Delhi High Court Condemns Municipal Corporation's Systemic Failure to Uphold Transparency Mandates for Two Decades

The Delhi High Court has issued a scathing judicial rebuke against the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for its persistent and systemic failure to comply with Right to Information (RTI) obligations, a statutory transparency mandate that has remained unfulfilled since 2005. In a landmark ruling, the bench explicitly questioned why critical decisions made by the MCD House and its various committees have never been published for public scrutiny, thereby undermining the foundational principles of democratic accountability and governance. This judicial censure highlights a profound institutional deficit, where a public body entrusted with civic administration has effectively operated in opacity for nearly two decades, contravening both the letter and spirit of transparency laws designed to empower citizens. The court's analytical intervention frames this not as a mere administrative lapse but as a deliberate erosion of statutory duties, raising serious concerns about governance integrity and public trust. The ruling mandates immediate corrective action, setting a critical precedent for enforcing compliance and reinforcing the judiciary's role as a guardian of transparency in public institutions.