Judges’ assets

Amid a clamour for greater transparency in the judiciary, all sitting judges of the Supreme Court have agreed to disclose their assets publicly by publishing details on the court’s website. The move comes weeks after the recovery of a stash of currency notes from the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma, who was then a judge of the Delhi High Court. As per the current practice, the submission of declarations is a voluntary exercise. Making it mandatory is the need of the hour since this is too important a matter to be left to the judges’ discretion.

Disclosure of assets by judges has been a contentious issue over the decades. In 1997, the Supreme Court adopted a resolution that required all its judges to declare their assets and liabilities to the Chief Justice of India; high court judges were supposed to submit these details to respective chief justices. However, the resolution came with the rider that the declarations would be ‘voluntary’ and ‘confidential’. This was not good enough for the public, which continued to remain in the dark. The enactment of the Right to Information Act in 2005 was seen as a ray of hope, but one of its provisions exempts disclosure of personal information unless there is a “larger public interest”. This has proved to be a stumbling block for petitioners seeking access to judicial asset declarations.

If sunlight is indeed the best disinfectant, as the SC asserted when it allowed live streaming of court proceedings in 2018, judges should have no hesitation in putting out information about their assets in the public domain; otherwise, it will give the impression that they are concealing allegedly ill-gotten wealth. The legislature also has a proactive role to play. The Parliamentary Committee on Law and Justice had in 2023 recommended mandatory asset declaration for judges, but no statutory rules have been framed so far. Elected representatives and bureaucrats are mandated by law to make public disclosure of assets; there should be no exemption for the judiciary, whose credibility and accountability are at stake.

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