EDITS | Thursday, November 5, 2009 | Email | Print | 
Mandatory, not voluntary
Kunal Saha
It is true that public trust in the judiciary is a very important issue for any democracy. But with news of possible corruption in the judiciary making headlines over the last several months, that public trust has been rattled. In this backdrop, the decision of the judges of the apex court to voluntarily declare their assets on the Supreme Court website will undoubtedly help to strengthen the image of the judiciary. Nonetheless, one wonders whether in the absence of meaningful changes in the law, mere voluntary disclosure of personal assets will have any significant impact in terms of safeguarding against corruption.
Many judges with impeccable integrity have served in the Supreme Court. In fact, irrespective of public opinion, the apex court till date maintains a good reputation. But unfortunately, the situation in the lower courts is far from satisfactory. Allegations of corruption in these courts is far more prevalent. And the voluntary declaration of assets by the Supreme Court judges will have no legal binding on the judges in the lower courts.
Unless the Government takes concrete steps to make disclosure of personal wealth a mandatory requirement for all judges at every level in the judicial hierarchy, corruption in the judiciary will continue to remain an issue.
On the other hand, recent moves by the Chief Justice of India provide little hope that the Apex Court has any intention of bringing a change in the law for making declaration of personal assets mandatory. The Delhi High Court had recently passed a historic judgment stating that the Supreme Court was obligated to declare information regarding assets of its judges under the Right to Information Act. The High Court had held that the office of the CJI was a public office and that it came under the ambit of the RTI. But the Supreme Court has already filed an appeal against the High Court decision indicating that it has no intention to accept compulsory disclosure of judges’ wealth.
There can be hardly any reason to imagine that a corrupt judge would voluntarily declare all his assets for public scrutiny. Unless disclosure is made mandatory, the deep-rooted corruption in the lower levels of the judiciary will continue to persist. The needful must be done immediately if the people’s faith in the judiciary is to be cemented once and for all.
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