Medical reimbursement of judges- a matter of privacy

The Apex Court, on Thursday, declined to hold the petition which, under Right to Information Act (RTI), sought disclosure of medical expenses of judges as well as their family members. A bench of three-judges headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu stated that if the Supreme Court allows such a plea today then tomorrow there would be another RTI plea asking for details of medicines consumed by the judges.
The bench further mentioned, “Once people know the medicines, it will be easy to infer what ailments are being suffered by judges and that will be serious invasion into their privacy”, and dismissed the petition filed by RTI activist, Subhash Agrawal. Petitioner’s counsel, Prashant Bhushan, however, said this would send a wrong message to public that judiciary passes good orders to bring transparency in politics and bureaucracy but divulges little when it comes to judges.