New Delhi: Government on Tuesday reacted
cautiously to the landmark Delhi High Court verdict on the
judges' assets issue, saying independence of judiciary must be
safeguarded and anything which impinges on it should be
"revisited".
"We must safeguard the independence of judiciary...We do
not consider the verdict as an embarrassment," Law and Justice
Minister Veerappa Moily said on being asked about the
judgement which held that the Chief Justice of India came
within the ambit of the Right to Information Act.
Moily noted there are still avenues of appeal to the
Supreme Court but did not want to comment further.
"...You should not forget the fact that independence
of the judiciary is quite important in our country and that is
the hallmark of the entire judicial system when compared to
many other countries of the world.
"So the judiciary really enjoys that kind of
independence. Anything which impinges upon the independence of
the judiciary needs to be revisited, will have to be looked
into," the minister said.
Asked whether the verdict impinged on the independence
of the judiciary, he said, "no no, I don't know. I am telling
you the general proposition of law".
Moily termed the judgement as a routine matter where
an issue had been "interpreted" by the High Court.
"You should not get shocked or upset on such matters.
It is a routine matter and interpretation has been given," he
added.
He said he would not like to comment on HC judgements
as they can be appealed before the Supreme Court.
"I have not seen the judgement. Let us see the
judgement," he added.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 21:25