Good, but not enough, Delhi High Court!

Furnish details of movable property as well, says RTI applicant who led to disclosure of judges' assets

danish

Danish Raza | February 6, 2010



Even as Delhi High Court judges have made their assets public, S. C. Agrawal, whose RTI application led to the move, is not satisfied.

“It is surprising that details of movable properties like jewellery and vehicles of judges have not been put up on the website, while the supreme court judges had revealed such assets as well," said Agrawal, adding that the system of declaration should be made uniform for all courts.

Delhi High Court had, on Friday, uploaded details of assets of its Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and 42 judges. As per the declaration, on www.delhihighcourt.nic.in, Shah has assets worth Rs 4.27 crore.

Last month, Delhi High Court had ruled that the office of the Chief Justice of India would be covered under the RTI Act. The division bench comprising Justice Vikramjit Sen, Justice S. Murlidharan and Chief Justice A. P. Shah also said that it was mandatory on part of the judges to declare their assets to the chief justices and the same should be made public under Section 4 of the RTI Act, which calls for proactive disclosure.

Earlier, judges of Kerala and Madras high courts had declared their assets.

“This one step might not be enough to remove corruption from the judiciary, but we can say that things are moving forward,” said Ashok Agarwal, lawyer and social activist.

S. C. Agrawal filed an RTI application in November 2007 to find out whether high court judges were submitting declarations about their assets to respective chief justices in states as per a 1997 resolution. Agrawal's application eventually led to the disclosure of judges' assets.

Comments

 

Other News

AI: Code, Control, Conquer

India today stands at a critical juncture in the area of artificial intelligence. While the country is among the fastest adopters of AI in the world, it remains heavily reliant on technologies developed elsewhere. This paradox, experts warn, cannot persist if India seeks technological sovereignty.

RBI pauses to assess inflation risks, policy transmission

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has begun the new fiscal year with a calibrated pause, keeping the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent in its April Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. The decision, taken unanimously, reflects a shift from aggressive policy action to cautious observation after a signi

New pathways for tourism growth

Traditionally, India’s tourism policy has been based on three main components: the number of visitors, building tourist attractions and providing facilities for tourists. Due to the increase in climate-related issues and environmental destruction that occurred over previous years, policymakers have b

Is the US a superpower anymore?

On April 8, hours after warning that “a whole civilisation will die tonight,” US president Donald Trump, exhibiting his unique style of retreating from high-voltage brinkmanship, announced that he agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran. The weekend talks in Islamabad have failed and the futur

Machines communicate, humans connect

There is a moment every event professional knows—the kind that arrives without warning, usually an hour before the curtain rises. Months of meticulous planning are in place. And then comes the call: “We’ll also need a projector. For the slides.”   No email

Why India is entering a ‘stagflation lite’ phase

India’s macroeconomic narrative is quietly shifting—from a rare “Goldilocks” equilibrium of stable growth and contained inflation to a more fragile phase where external shocks are beginning to dominate domestic policy outcomes. The numbers still look reassuring at first glance: GDP


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter