New Delhi, Jan 14 (IANS) Both the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court believe that the issue whether the office of the chief justice of India comes within the ambit of the Right to Information Act is a matter of public importance and should be decided by the apex court, Attorney General Goolam E.Vahanvati said Thursday.
Vahanvati’s statement came as a bid to dispel an impression that he was personally keen for an appeal against the Delhi High Court’s three-judge verdict that the CJI’s office came within the ambit of the country’s transparency law.

The attorney-general, who had argued the case on behalf of the apex court in the high court, has been criticised by a section of legal fraternity for reportedly suggesting that the high court ruling must be challenged before the apex court.

To dispel the popular perception, the government’s top law officer told reporters in an informal interaction that the high court under Article 132 of the Constitution had granted certificate to appeal against the verdict on the ground that important questions of law were involved.

“The high court judges themselves have granted a certificate to appeal to the Supreme Court, testifying that the case involves substantial questions of law and general importance and that in the opinion of the high court these questions need to be decided by the Supreme Court,” he said.

Notwithstanding the certificate, the decision whether an appeal would be eventually filed, would be that of the Supreme Court judges, Vahanvati added.

He said that he took up the case on behalf of the Supreme Court not just as a matter of legal duty, but on the basis of a firm conviction that “the independence of the judiciary cannot be compromised by exposing every aspect of the work of the courts to public scrutiny”.