SC judges decide to declare assets

New Delhi
Aug. 26: In a decision widely welcomed in the legal fraternity, the judges of the Supreme Court arrived at a consensus decision at a meeting here Wednesday on going public with their assets. This follows a raging debate on the issue within legal and political circles, and in the country at large, over the past several weeks.

It is learnt that the decision in principle to make the assets of judges public was taken after a two-hour meeting of the judges convened by Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan on Wednesday.

It has been decided to put the information on the assets of judges on the Supreme Court’s website. The decision was taken in the form of a resolution that will be considered passed once all the judges sign the minutes of the meeting. The details of the judges’ assets would then be put up on the website, it is learnt.

Though the issue of putting information on judges’ assets into the public domain has been debated for some time now, the entire matter took on new urgency after a judge of the Karnataka high court, Justice D.V. Shylendra Kumar, wrote a newspaper article on the subject some days ago. Subsequently, a judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court became the first superior court judge in the country to publicly declare his assets.

One of the main reservations which some judges had, as articulated by the CJI on some occasions, was the apprehension that they might face harassment as a result. Under current practice, judges of the Supreme Court are required to disclose their assets to the CJI, while judges of high courts have to do so before their respective chief justices.

The political establishment too had been putting considerable pressure to make public disclosure of assets mandatory for the judiciary. Vociferous objections by members from all sides of the House compelled the government to withdraw the Judges (Declaration of Assets and Liabilities) Bill 2009, which had a clause under which details of judges’ assets would not have to be disclosed under the Right to Information Act, from the Rajya Sabha in the last session. Union law minister M. Veerappa Moily had come under considerable criticism over this clause.

Welcoming Wednesday’s decision, former attorney-general Soli J. Sorabjee said it was a “radical change” and a “step in the right direction”. He added: “This is a very good development. It raises the image of the judiciary.” Senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan said: “It will now encourage judges of the high courts to declare their assets.”

Celebrated criminal lawyer and former law minister Ram Jethmalani said it was a “most sensible” move and would help the judiciary regain public faith and trust. Another top Supreme Court lawyer, K.T.S. Tulsi, said: “The Chief Justice must be complimented for getting the higher judiciary to take this step. It will bring transparency and accountability in the judiciary.”