It’s finally out. The judges of our Supreme Court put up details of their assets online on Monday. The move, billed by some to threaten judicial independence and leave their lordships open to ridicule, instead confirmed what we all knew — that the judges of the most powerful court in the world are in no way opposed to institutional mechanisms to increase transparency. For this opened window into their world, they deserve our gratitude.

But after the applause, three concerns must be addressed. The first is the new judicial accountability bill that Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily has said will incorporate provisions that make declaration of assets by the higher judiciary compulsory (as opposed to the voluntary nature of the current online declaration). The online declaration by judges must act as a spur to this final destination, rather than a stop-gap arrangement that becomes permanent. There is no reason why this should not happen, given that judges have agreed to the principle, and parliamentary fears of the public being denied access to the information have been put at rest. The second concern is for the high courts to follow suit. Currently, only judges from the Kerala high court and its Karnataka counterpart (site of an early rebellion) have declared their assets. The concurrence of the high courts is important also for the fact that they are the training ground for most Supreme Court judges.

The third, larger concern is how to avoid the recurrence of this long and ugly dispute. In other words, how to get the executive, legislature and judiciary on the same page when it comes to judicial transparency? The assets controversy was given momentum by a very public protest, dissent within the higher judiciary, opposition by some eminent jurists and stone-walling by parliamentarians — and it was solved by a unilateral gesture by the judiciary. That cannot be the roadmap for the future. As the controversy over Justice Dinakaran’s appointment continues to simmer, the larger issue of judicial accountability needs agreed-upon mechanisms, not ad hoc initiatives. The tortuous path to online asset declarations is a cautionary tale of which road not to take.