Assets of judges

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TIMES OF INDIA MUMBAI EDN 20-08-08

Declare assets, CJI missive tells HC judges

As Reported by : Dhananjay Mahapatra | TNN

New Delhi: Amidst mounting pressure on the judiciary to reveal judges’ assets through RTI, Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan has quietly shot off letters to CJs of all 21 HCs to give practical meaning to an 11-year-old apex judicial resolution—judges must declare their properties.
The CJI also sent along with the letter a copy of the ‘Restatement of Values of Judicial Life’, a 16-point guideline on the dos and don’ts for judges, to the chief justices of the HCs requesting that it be circulated among all 600-odd judges and diligently observed.
The apex judicial resolution, attached with the letter, said: “Every judge should make a declaration of all his/her assets in the form of real estate or investments, held by him/her or spouses or dependants, within a reasonable time of assuming office.” This is also applicable to sitting judges, the resolution clarified.
After giving the information about the assets, the judges were to make additional declaration every time they acquire additional property or make further investments, if they were of substantial nature, it said without elaborating on what ‘substantial’ meant. The chief justices should also make similar declarations, which should be kept as part of the HC records, it said.
However, it clarified that the asset declarations by judges, unlike politicians who file it in the form of affidavits along with their nomination forms, would not be for public consumption. “The declarations made by the judges or the Chief Justice shall be confidential,” it said.