Judicial Transparency Under the Right to Information Regime: Balancing Court Independence, Public Accountability, and Institutional Secrecy
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The degree to which the judiciary can be required to embrace transparency without compromising freedom to decide, private deliberations, or legitimate confidentiality as an independent branch of the government remains an enduring question as far as the Indian Constitution is concerned. This Article critically examines the constitutional right to know, the Right to Information Act, 2005, the major judicial pronouncements on the issue of court and judges' related disclosures, and the recent institutional materials of the Supreme Court of India, including the Supreme Court of India's annual reports, quarterly Right to Information responses, and 2025 disclosures. In the absence of absolute secrecy and openness, Indian law has moved to an approach where the public nature of the judiciary mandates significant disclosures, and privacy and fiduciary and security concerns, as well as partial deliberations, justify nondisclosure.
Authors: Chetna Sharma, Mrs. Roli shrivastava
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7161051426