Today, the Supreme Court of India told the Delhi High Court that it does not keep any record of complaints filed against individual judges — whether for corruption or misconduct.

This came up during the hearing of an RTI request filed by journalist Saurav Das, who had simply asked whether any complaints were ever received against Justice T Raja during his time at the Madras High Court.

The Supreme Court's answer was straightforward — we don't maintain such information judge by judge.

Advocate Rukhmini Bobde, appearing for the Supreme Court, told the court that collecting such information would not only be difficult but would also drain significant resources. She further argued that even if such data existed, it may be legally protected under the RTI Act since it concerns specific individuals.

Her key point was that complaints received by the Collegium are background inputs — not public decisions. The Collegium's final decision on a judge may be public, but what went into that decision, including complaints and supporting documents, is not meant for public eyes.

She did admit that the Supreme Court had shared the total number of complaints received in the Chief Justice's office over ten years with Parliament — but stressed that it was just an overall number, with no judge-wise or complaint-wise breakdown.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing Das, pushed back firmly. He said complaints about a judge's corruption or misconduct cannot be treated as personal information because they directly touch public interest. If a judge is facing such allegations, citizens have every right to know how those complaints were dealt with.

He also pointed out that since the Supreme Court had already shared some complaint data with Parliament, it cannot take the position that no such information exists at all.

Bhushan agreed that many complaints against judges are likely frivolous — but said that is precisely why the Chief Justice's office should examine them and let the public know what action, if any, was taken.

The Delhi High Court has put off the matter to next month. Before doing so, it asked both sides to think about a possible middle ground — a system that shields honest judges from reputational damage while also giving the public some clarity on how complaints against judges are handled.

Finding that balance, it seems, will not be easy.