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Top Indian judges say they must not
be asked about their wealth
NEW DELHI / WSN
Bureau
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Flaying of the
Corrupt Judge Sisamnes by Gerard David (1498-1499) |
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Dashing any
hopes of taking a lead and setting an example in the interest of
transparency and public image,
India's top
judiciary at the Supreme Court disowned its decade-old resolution to
oppose public scrutiny of the wealth of judges, and now plans to
counter a ruling that apex courts judges' wealth can be a matter of
public knowledge.
This U-turn was
made during arguments before the Central Information Commission (CIC),
whose latest ruling had directed the court to provide these details
within 10 days.
The apex court
lawyer told the CIC that its resolution was “informal”. “If any
information was provided under the Right to Information on the basis
of this resolution, it would lead to breach of confidentiality ,” he
said.
The resolution,
which made it mandatory for the judges to regularly declare their
assets and also those of their families, was passed in a full court
meeting in 1997 attended by 22 judges.
The disclosure
came on a day when the Chief Justice of
India (CJI) K.G.
Balakrishnan hinted that the CIC ruling might be challenged in
court. “We do not agree with what the CIC has said,” Balakrishnan
said in a newspaper interview. “We might appeal against it in
court.” The Supreme Court Registry has already indicated it might
consider moving the Delhi HC against the ruling made public last
week.
Former CJI J.S.
Verma, who had moved the resolution and got it passed during his
tenure, strongly objected to the apex court’s stand. “How can a
resolution adopted in a full court be termed as voluntary and
informal? It became obligatory on the judiciary since the day it was
passed in the full court meeting in May 1997,” he said.
He said the
information provided by judges “is meant to be used in case there
are some allegations of corruption on any individual. Therefore it
is very much official information and any erroneous interpretation
must be checked at once”. He said the judiciary should open itself
to public scrutiny and not oppose this move.
India is the
only major democracy in the world where the Supreme Court and high
court judges are not willing to make public the details of their
wealth and academic qualifications.
14 January 2009
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