New Delhi, July 02: Chief Justice of India K G
Balakrishnan today said there was no need put the assets of
judges in public domain as it would send a "wrong message" to
litigants.
"Judges do declare their assets at the time of taking
oath. All their details are with the registrar. There is no
need for the assets to be disclosed before the public as that
would send a wrong message to litigants," Justice Balakrishnan
told a news channel.
He was responding to a question regarding Law Minister M
Veerappa Moily's call for disclosure of judges' assets to the
public.
The Minister had last week said that the government would
soon bring a bill to make it mandatory for the Judges of
Supreme Court and High Courts to declare their assets.
On June 4, Moily had said the judiciary has to come out
with an answer to the issue of disclosure of assets by judges
as no public authority can claim it is not accountable to the
society.
The appeal filed by the Supreme Court registry against an
order of the Central Information Commission holding that
judges were liable to declare their assets has been reserved
for judgement before the Delhi High Court.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, July 02, 2009, 21:49