New Delhi: In an important step, the Supreme Court judges have resolved to make public the details of their property public on the official portal of the apex court, Diprin has learned.
Sources in the registry of the apex court said that the proposal to make the details of their property public was adopted by all 33 Supreme Court judges on Tuesday. This step is a departure from the current practice under which judges disclose to the Chief Justice of India and do not be necessary to make them public, unless a specific judge wishes to do so on a voluntary basis.
With the new resolution in the place, the public announcement of assets will no longer be an discretionary practice and will also apply to future judges.
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Sources said that the judges took a decision in view of the dispute, which was then generated after the alleged discovery of cash at the residence of Judge Yashwant Verma of Delhi, which has since been transferred to the Allahabad High Court. In a step to ensure transparency in the investigation process, India’s Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna had created all documents related to the initial investigation against Justice Verma Public.
The incident has also triggered a debate on the appointment system of judges in the higher judiciary and widespread concern on the ambiguity of the judiciary’s functioning.
Sources said that the Tarikes have not yet been determined to publish assets. With the resolution, the High Courts are also likely to carry forward to follow the footsteps of the Apex Court.
The public assets of the judges were first made in 1997 during a meeting chaired by Chief Justice of India JS Verma in 1997. The proposal adopted by all the sitting judges then said: “Each judge should announce all assets as real estate or investment held in their names, to the Chief Justice, in the name of their spouse or any other person.”
This did not include public disclosure.
Later, on 8 September 2009, the full court passed a new resolution on the court website to declare the assets of the judges. But it added a warning, which was that it would be “purely a voluntary basis”.
Some High Courts also after the practice of declaring property on the website.
However, since 2018, voluntary announcements of the property were discontinued. Over time, the announcements made by the former judges were also removed from the website. Currently, there is a list of post 28 judges in the section related to the property of judges on the website. It states that these judges have declared CJI as their property.
In 2019, the Supreme Court pronounced a verdict, stating that the personal property and liabilities of the judges are not “personal information”. The decision was filed by the Right to Information (RTI) activist Subhash Chandra Aggarwal on a decade -old case, who tried to find out if the SC judges declared the CJI as their assets as per the resolution of 1997.
(Edited by Geetanjali Das)
Also read: Why SC refused to search for a pilot against Justice Yashwant Verma in a cash line