House panel wants judges to mandatorily declare asset

Source: The post is based on the article “House panel wants judges to mandatorily declare assets”  published in Hindustan Times  on 9th August 2023.

What is the News?

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice has submitted in the Parliament a report titled “Judicial Processes and their reform”.

What are the recommendations given in the Judicial Processes and their reform report?

Declaration of assets: In 2009, the full bench of the Supreme Court (comprising all judges) had decided to declare their assets on a voluntary basis on the Supreme Court’s website. Till date, it contains data with respect to 55 former Chief Justices of India and judges of the Supreme Court. The data was last updated on March 31, 2018. 

– As regards high courts, only five high courts share data of assets on their website and that too by only a few judges. 

– Hence, that’s why the committee has recommended the center to bring in a law making it compulsory for judges of the Supreme Court and high courts to declare their assets on an annual basis.

– Declaration of assets by the judges of the higher judiciary will bring “more trust and credibility” into the system.

Do away with Long vacations of courts: The committee has recommended doing away with long Court vacations.

– The Committee felt that vacations in the judiciary are a ‘colonial legacy’ that causes inconvenience to litigants.

Social diversity in courts: The Committee has also stressed on social diversity among judges of the higher judiciary. It recommended an adequate number of women and candidates from the marginalized sections of the society including minorities to be considered for appointment to high courts and Supreme Court by the respective Collegiums in the high court and Supreme Court.

– This provision should be clearly mentioned in the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), which is presently under finalization.

Increase retirement age: The Constitution of India can be amended to increase the retirement age of judges of high court (presently 62) and Supreme Court (presently 65) .

Regional benches: The committee has recommended setting up regional Supreme Court benches. The interpretation of Constitution and Constitutional matters may be dealt at Delhi and the regional benches may decide appellate matters. However, the appellate benches may not be made as another layer of the judiciary by treating their decisions as final.

Annual reports: Currently, the Supreme Court is publishing its Annual Report also depicting the work done by all High Courts of the Country. But only few High Courts are publishing their Annual Report.

– The Committee recommends the Department of Justice to approach the Supreme Court of India requesting them to issue necessary directions to all the High Courts to prepare and publish their Annual Reports regularly, on their respective websites.