Public disclosure of assets by judges! Will it lead to frivolous litigations or healthy accountability and transparency?
The controversy over declaration of assets by judges of the Supreme Court has taken different turns and the High Courts have come up with a sort of temporary conclusion with the judges of the Supreme Court, including Hon’ble Justice KG Balakrishnan, Chief Justice of India. The decision to publicise their assets was taken at the time of their appointment to the Supreme Court with subsequent additions in the assets, if any.
This decision come to pass at a full court meeting on August 26th, presided over by Hon’ble Justice Balakrishnan, who till recently had stoutly resisted any move for such disclosure publicly with a belief that it would be misused by disgruntled elements. At present, judges disclose their assets to the Chief Justice of India as per the procedure in the 1997 ‘Restatement of Values’. However, it is kept confidential (judges of the High Courts furnish such information to the respective Chief Justices).
Hon’ble Justice D V Shylendra Kumar of the Karnataka High Court and Hon’ble Justice K Kannan of the Punjab & Haryana High Court had spurred the debate by voluntarily disclosing their assets and made them public.
However, now the information on judges’ assets will be put on the Supreme Court website. Let us look at the resolution passed by the full court on May 7, 1997
“It was during my period that a decision was taken and the follow up is done now. It is a welcome follow up and Caesar’s wife should be beyond doubt. This is a good step towards judicial reforms, which we have been debating over many decades now. Declaration of assets by judges would go a long way in the goal of judicial reforms.”
As per the resolution, it was resolved that 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 will 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.
The decision of the Full Court regarding public disclosure of assets by judges is an attempt to bring in judicial accountability and reform in order to foster transparency.
It is important to know that presently there is no law governing the declaration of assets by judges. Therefore, the government introduced the Judges’ Assets Bill in the foregoing session of the Parliament. But the same was withdrawn on account of a clause that such a declaration would not come within the ambit of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI). The government is willing to reintroduce the Bill with appropriate amendments. Hon’ble Justice V N Khare, former Chief Justice of India asserts, “I always called for this (declaration of assets by judges). After all, it is in the public interest as well as in the interest of the judiciary itself. As it is said, “Justice must not only be done but also shown or seen to have been done,” so this will clear a lot of air. The argument that disgruntled elements would start a plethora of frivolous petitions has to be dismissed, for, our judiciary is strong enough to tackle such types of litigations. So there need not be fear that declaration of assets by judges would lead to a slew of PILs or frivolous petitions and challenges. A high constitutional functionary should be clean and transparent and the decision would certainly pave the way for transparency in the judicial system of the country.”
Even as every one thought that the issue has been set at rest by the full court decision, which was taken on August 26, Hon’ble Justice S. Ravindra Bhat of the Delhi High Court created a flutter on September 2. He gave a landmark judgment holding that all information on assets declared by Supreme Court judges in the possession of the Chief Justice of India will come within the ambit of the RTI Act.
“RESOLUTION
The following two Resolutions have been ADOPTED in the Full Court Meeting of the Supreme Court of India on May 7, 1997:
RESOLVED that an in-house procedure should be devised by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India to take suitable remedial action against Judges who by their acts of omission or commission do not follow the universally accepted values of judicial life including those indicated in the “Restatement of Values of Judicial Life.” RESOLVED FURTHER THAT every Judge should make a declaration of all his/her assets in the form of real estate or investments (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.”
He stated, “The CJI is a public authority under the RTI Act and the CJI holds the information pertaining to asset declarations in his capacity as Chief Justice; that office is a ‘public authority’ under the Act and is covered by its provisions. Information pertaining to declarations given to the CJI and the contents of such declaration are ‘information’ and subject to the provisions of the RTI Act.”
He turned down the argument advanced on behalf of the CJI that the CJI was holding such information in a ‘fiduciary capacity. “It cannot be held that asset information shared with the CJI by the judges is held by him in the capacity of a fiduciary, which, if directed to be revealed, would result in breach of such duty,” he added.
Hon’ble Justice J S Verma , former CJI reiterates the sentiment, “It was during my period that a decision was taken and the follow up is done now. It is a welcome follow up and Caesar’s wife should be beyond doubt. This is a good step towards judicial reforms, which we have been debating over many decades now. Declaration of assets by judges would go a long way in the goal of judicial reforms.”
“Restatement Of Values Of Judicial Life (code Of Conduct) Adopted In The Chief Justices’ Conference In December 1999
The Conference of Chief Justices of all High Courts was held on 3rd and 4th December, 1999 in the Supreme Court premises. During the said Conference, the Chief Justices unanimously resolved to adopt the “Restatement of Values of Judicial Life”.
WHEREAS by a Resolution passed in the Chief Justices’ Conference held at New Delhi on September 18-19, 1992, it was resolved that it is desirable to restate the pre-existing and universally accepted norms, guidelines and conventions reflecting the high values of judicial life to be followed by Judges during their tenure of office;
AND WHEREAS the Chief Justice of India (CJI) was further requested by that Resolution to constitute a Committee for preparing the draft restatement to be circulated to the Chief Justices of the High Courts for discussion with their colleagues, which was duly circulated on November 11,1993;
AND WHEREAS suggestions have been received from the Chief Justices of the High Courts after discussion with their colleagues;
AND WHEREAS a Committee has been reconstituted by the CJI on April 7, 1997, to finalise the ‘Restatement of Values of Judicial Life’ after taking note of the draft Restatement of Values of Judicial Life prepared by a Committee appointed pursuant to the Resolution passed in the Chief Justices’ Conference 1992 and placed before the Chief Justices’ Conference in 1993;
AND WHEREAS such a Committee constituted by the CJI has prepared a draft restatement after taking into consideration the views received from various High Courts to the draft which was circulated to them;
NOW THEREFORE, on a consideration of the views of the High Courts on the draft, the restatement of the pre-existing and universally accepted norms, guidelines and conventions called the ‘RESTATEMENT OF VALUES OF JUDICIAL LIFE’ to serve as a guide to be observed by Judges, essential for an independent, strong and respected judiciary, indispensable in the impartial administration of justice, as redrafted, has been considered in the Full Court Meeting of the Supreme Court of India on May 7, 1997 and has been ADOPTED for due observance.
“I always called for this (declaration of assets by judges). After all, it is in public interest as well as in the interest of the judiciary itself. As it is said, “Justice must not only be done but also shown or seen to have been done,” so this will clear a lot of air. The argument that disgruntled elements would start a plethora of frivolous petitions has to be dismissed, for, our judiciary is strong enough to tackle such types of litigations. So there need not be fear that declaration of assets by judges would lead to a slew of PILs or frivolous petitions and challenges. A high constitutional functionary should be clean and transparent and the decision would certainly pave the way for transparency in the judicial system of the country.”
These are only the “Restatement of the Values of Judicial Life” and are not meant to be exhaustive but only illustrative of what is expected of a Judge.
Through the issue, the judge has now opened the Pandora’s Box for anyone to seek any information from the CJI, including those relating to appointments of judges or discussions taking place in the collegiums of judges. Such information is now kept confidential and the CJI has gone on record saying that his correspondence with the Prime Minister or with the President of India cannot be the subject matter of the RTI, as it would create lot of complications and problems for the judiciary.
However, RTI activists have welcomed the High Court’s decision saying that the RTI Act itself has sufficient safeguards in furnishing information, if it infringes on the privacy of a judge. Nevertheless, if public interest outweighs private interest then such information can be parted with. The CJI and other judges must gracefully accept the decision and, as suggested by the High Court, should evolve a proper mechanism for disclosure of assets. It remains to be seen whether the Supreme Court registry will appeal against this judgment before a division bench of the High court or will accept the verdict as it is.
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