Supreme Court judges will now declare their assets to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) before assuming office and whenever they acquire any significant property or wealth. However, whether to make these declarations public on the court’s website will remain voluntary at the discretion of the judges.
Currently, judges are not required to disclose this information, unlike other public servants.
Soon after the order, the Supreme Court judges agreed to publicly disclose their assets. So far, 30 judges, including CJI Sanjiv Khanna, have declared their assets.
A statement on the Supreme Court’s website reads: “The Full Court of the Supreme Court of India has resolved that judges should declare their assets upon assuming office and whenever they acquire assets of a substantial nature. This also includes declarations by the Chief Justice of India. However, publishing these details on the Supreme Court website is voluntary.”
‘Cash-At-Home’ Controversy
This order comes amid the raging ‘cash-at-home’ controversy and is aimed at earning public trust and accountability within the judiciary. The recent discovery of large sums of cash at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma has intensified discussions about corruption within India’s higher judiciary. Justice Yashwant Varma was a then-sitting judge of the Delhi High Court.
On the intervening night of March 14 and 15, a fire broke out at Justice Yashwant Varma’s house. The storeroom, adjacent to the guard room, was on fire. By the time the fire brigade extinguished the fire, they found half-burnt currency notes in the embers. The speculation is that the burnt currency notes amounted to about Rs 15 crore.
The CJI then constituted a three-member committee to conduct an enquiry. Investigations are still underway, while the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court has been asked not to assign any judicial work to Justice Varma.
