By IANS
New Delhi : A high-level government panel set up to revamp the criminal justice system admitted in its report released Wednesday that there is "corruption in the judiciary".
"Corruption in criminal justice distorts the process and delays delivery of justice and it is a serious threat to justice," said N.R. Madhav Menon, chairman of the Committee on Criminal Justice System, in the report.
The committee, appointed by the home ministry in 2006, presented its report to Home Minister Shivraj Patil Wednesday.
The report suggested a revamp of the entire criminal justice system and the establishment of an independent law enforcement agency to investigate corruption.
"Unless serious cases of corruption are dealt with an iron hand, irrespective of the party affiliations, their impact on governance generally and criminal justice in particular is going to be very serious," Menon added.
The home ministry panel said that simultaneously, it was necessary to put in place "a more transparent and effective method of dealing with corruption in the judiciary."
"All judges should be required to make public disclosure of their assets annually to a judicial ombudsman that could be a three-member body of retired chief justices, election commissioners or former comptroller and auditor generals, appointed by the president in consultation with the chief justice," the committee said in its report.
"The proposed Judges' Inquiry Bill hopefully will provide for the machinery for the purpose. The judicial ombudsman can be associated with the body created under the Bill for disciplining erring judges," the report added.
The panel added that in order to tackle corruption in the judiciary, a fair and transparent complaints redressal system needed to be put in place immediately in the police, judiciary and the prison services.
Besides Menon, the committee comprises Anil Choudhary, former special secretary (internal security), Mohan Dayal Rijhwani, senior advocate, and Kamal Kumar, former director of the National Police Academy.