By IANS,
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Wednesday upheld a Central Information Commission (CIC) order that judges should declare their assets and the office of the Chief Justice of India would be the public authority to assess those assets.
In a historical judgement, Justice S. Ravindra Bhat said judges are accountable but they are also subjective to some constraints.
“The dignity of the judges add value to the democracy. Judges are under public attack and revealing of assets and other information may increase the reputation of the judges,” Bhat said.
The judge also noted that the office of Chief Justice of India is a public authority and it is well within the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
“Chief Public Information Officer of the Supreme Court shall release the information about the declaration of the assets to the petitioner within four weeks of time,” he said.
The court refused to comment on the recent development of declaration of assets by judges of various state high courts.
The Delhi High Court May 4 had reserved its order on an apex court plea challenging CIC’s order that judges declare their assets.
Solicitor General G.E. Vahanvati contended before Justice Bhatt that disclosure of information on personal assets by judges will affect the independence of the judicial system.
“If we introduce transparency to an extent which would disturb the working of the judges, then it would affect the independence of the judicial system,” Vahanvati had said.