Cabinet nod for judicial transparency Bill

New Delhi: Facilitating a legal provision for dealing with complaints filed by the public against the judges of the Supreme Court and high courts, the Union Cabinet on Thursday approved The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill 2010, and its introduction in Parliament.
The Bill, which provides a mechanism for looking into complaints against judges, not only lays down judicial standards but also makes it necessary for judges of Supreme Court and high courts to declare their assets and liabilities.


“The enactment of the Bill will address the growing concerns regarding the need to ensure greater accountability of the higher judiciary by bringing in more transparency and would further strengthen the credibility and independence of the judiciary," she said.
The Bill calls for setting up of a five-member Oversight Committee to be headed by a former Chief Justice of India. The committee will also comprise a Supreme Court judge, a high court chief justice, attorney general and another member to be appointed by the President.
There were indications though that the Bill might be referred to a Parliament Standing Committee. Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said it was important to scrutinise the Bill on certain important parametres including accountability. “It has to be seen whether it will lead to an improvement in the quality of the process of recruitment for judges, and also how it will handle the issue of ambitions of judges because of which they accept post-retirement posts,” said Jaitley.
As per the Bill, a judge not facing serious charges may be let off after a warning. However, if any judge faces serious charges, which will require further investigation, the judge may be asked to step down, Soni said.
While the judiciary had adopted resolutions for declaration of assets by judges, there was no law that required them to declare their assets and liabilities and also there was no statutory sanction for judicial standards.
The Bill seeks to replace the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968.
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