|
Twenty-one judges of the country’s highest court have declared assets owned by them and their spouses. The landmark move follows intense public debate about the importance of judicial accountability in India
In an unprecedented move, judges of the Indian Supreme Court, including Chief Justice (CJI) of India K G Balakrishnan, voluntarily declared their assets on November 3, 2009. The disclosures, which are on the apex court website, include the assets of their spouses. The website states that the declarations are in line with the May 7, 1997, resolution and are purely voluntary. At present, there is no law governing the declaration of assets by judges. The May 7, 1997, resolution says: “Every judge should make a declaration of all his/her assets in the form of real estate or investment (held by him/her in his/her own name or in the name of his/her spouse or any person dependent on him/her) within a reasonable time of assuming office and in the case of sitting judges within a reasonable time of adoption of this resolution and thereafter whenever any acquisition of a substantial nature is made, it shall be disclosed within a reasonable time. The declaration so made should be to the chief justice of the court. The chief justice (should) make a similar declaration for the purpose of the record. The declaration made by the judges or the chief justice, as the case may be, shall be confidential.” What has been confidential until now regarding the CJI has been made public. The declaration of the CJI and others climaxed months of controversy, triggered by right to information (RTI) petitions seeking transparency on the assets of judges of the higher judiciary, which culminated in a battle in the Delhi High Court. The description of property has been divided into four categories -- immovable assets like landed property, including buildings and flats; shares and investments; movable property, including jewellery and vehicles; and liabilities like loans, unpaid bills, etc. Leading legal experts welcomed the move by the judges to publicly declare their assets. “It is a good step. I welcome it,” said former attorney general Soli Sorabjee. But others say it is not enough. “Since it (declaration of assets) is voluntary, it is open for judges to refuse. We still need a law to make this disclosure compulsory, that too on an affidavit, so that false disclosures become punishable,” says lawyer Prashant Bhushan. In August, Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said that the judges needed to arrive at a consensus on public declaration of their assets in the absence of a law. There has been growing public demand for greater transparency on the part of judges after allegations of corruption against some judges in the last few years. Source: The Hindu, November 3, 2009
The Economic Times, November 3, 2009
BBC, November 3, 2009
PTI, November 2, 2009
|
