All SC judges to declare assets amid chorus for judicial accountability

Amid a raging debate over judicial accountability following the alleged recovery of a huge amount of burnt cash at Justice Yashwant Varma’s house in the national capital, all 33 judges of the Supreme Court have unanimously decided to declare their assets.

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The decision was taken in a full court meeting of the Supreme Court judges on April 1, sources said, adding that it would bind both current and future judges. In a shift from the current practice of making details public on a voluntary basis, now the infromation on assets would be mandatorily placed on the Supreme Court website, they said.

The decision has been taken at the initiative of CJI Sanjiv Khanna. It is seen as a step towards transparency in the judiciary in the backdrop of the row surrounding the alleged discovery of the burnt cash during a fire incident on March 14 at the residence of Delhi HC judge Justice Yashwant Varma, who has since been transferred to the Allahabad HC.

Last month, the Chief Justice of India had also made public the report of an in-house fact-finding committee of Delhi High Court Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya into the alleged cash recovery.

There is already a 1997 full court resolution requiring the Supreme Court judges to declare their assets to the CJI. “Every judge should make a declaration to the Chief Justice of all assets in the form of real estate or investment held in their names, in the name of their spouses or any other person dependent on them,” it stated.

Following mounting public pressure, the Supreme Court judges had for the first time in 2009 decided to make public their assets on the top court’s website. However, the September 2009 full court resolution made it voluntary. In case of high court judges, the asset details are required to be submitted to the Chief Justice of the HC concerned.

Former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar welcomed the willingness of the Supreme Court judges to subject themselves to public scrutiny “as far as the sources of their wealth were concerned”, terming it a step towards judicial transparency.

“At a time when suggestions about judicial impropriety are becoming louder and popular faith in the judiciary is shaken, this symbolic gesture by the judges of the nation’s highest court will help in restoring the credibility of the judicial institution. The judges deserve full credit for living up to the high standards of probity expected of them,” Kumar said.