Draft law removes judges assets info from public domain
July 8, 2009: The Indian Express
Less than four days after Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan told The Indian Express that members of the judiciary would have no objection in disclosing assets provided the law that the government intends to bring on the subject ensures there will be no harassment, the Union Law Ministry is ready with a draft of the proposed law.
Sources said that keeping in view the reservations expressed by the CJI, the draft contains adequate safeguards against attempts by disgruntled or unscrupulous elements to access information submitted by judges.
“What we are proposing is that judges would have to declare their assets at the time of taking oath and file annual statements to their respective Chief Justices, with copies also sent to a designated state or Central government authority. But this information won’t be in the public domain. It won’t be available under the Right to Information Act,¶ said a senior officer of the Law Ministry.
At present, judges declare their assets at the time of taking oath and the information is kept with the respective High Court or the Supreme Court. Despite the Central Information Commission asking the Supreme Court to make public details of assets of members of the judiciary, the Supreme Court has refused to do so. The CIC order stands stayed by the Delhi High Court.
Under the proposed law, the judges would also have to declare the assets of members of their families.
The officer, however, clarified that the draft would be taken by Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily to the CJI for discussion.
“The Law Minister wanted a draft of the proposed law to be prepared. It has been prepared. Now it will depend on how it is taken forward,¶ the officer said.
It is learnt that in an earlier meeting with the CJI, Moily had discussed the contours of the proposed law. The CJI had also informed Moily about the reasons behind the judiciary’s reservations to its assets being made public.
Asked what purpose the proposed law would serve if the assets of members of the judiciary continue to be outside the purview of the RTI Act, the officer said the information though not in public domain would “serve its purpose¶.
“Once the law is there, if any member of the higher judiciary is under the scanner for corruption or irregularity, the agency that probes the charges can access the property details. But the Law Ministry agrees with the contention of the CJI that if the details of assets of judges are open to public scrutiny, they will be open to harassment and needless questions,¶ the officer said.
