Whatever discussions had taken place cannot be said to be a final decision of the Collegium
Anjali Bhardwaj vs. CPIO, Supreme Court of India, (RTI Cell) [Special Leave to Appeal (C) No. 21019 of 2022]
RELEVANT PARAGRAPH
5. At the outset, it is required to be noted that the petitioner asked for the information on the decision(s) taken by the Collegium in its meeting held on 12.12.2018. Reliance is placed upon the Resolution dated 03.10.2017, by which, it was resolved to upload the decision/resolution of the Collegium on Supreme Court’s website. Relying upon some article published in the media and the interview given by one of the members of the Collegium who was part of the Collegium held on 12.12.2018, it is asserted by the petitioner that in fact some decision(s) were taken by the Collegium on the elevation of two Chief Justices of the High Courts to the Supreme Court. However, from the subsequent Resolution passed by the Collegium on 10.01.2019, it appears that as such no final decision was taken on the elevation to the Supreme Court. Some discussions might have taken place. But unless and until, a final decision is taken after due consultation and on the basis of such a final decision a final resolution is drawn, whatever discussions had taken place cannot be said to be a final decision of the Collegium. The actual resolution passed by the Collegium only can be said to be a final decision of the Collegium and till then at the most, it can be said to be a tentative decision during the consultation. It is to be noted that a final decision is taken by the Collegium only after due consultation. During the consultation if some discussion takes place but no final decision is taken and no resolution is drawn, it cannot be said that any final decision is taken by the Collegium. Collegium is a multimember body whose decision embodied in the resolution that may be formally drawn up and signed. When in the subsequent Resolution dated 10.01.2019, it is specifically mentioned that in the earlier meeting held on 12.12.2018 though some decisions were taken but ultimately the consultation was not completed and concluded and therefore, the matter/agenda items was/were adjourned. Therefore, as no final decision was taken which was culminated into a final resolution drawn and signed by all the members of the Collegium, the same was not required to be disclosed in the public domain and that too under the RTI Act. Whatever is discussed shall not be in the public domain. As per the Resolution dated 03.10.2017 only the final resolution and the final decision is required to be uploaded on the Supreme Court’s website.