Judges of three High Courts — Delhi, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh — decided on Friday to take the lead provided by the Supreme Court and make public details of their assets.
The decision came on a day the Chief Justice of India, K G Balakrishnan, underlined that the Supreme Court does not have any “supervisory jurisdiction” over High Courts in administrative matters, and that “changed circumstances” had led him to alter his view on making public the declaration of assets by judges.
Supreme Court judges unanimously made a historic decision on Wednesday to post the details of their assets on the website of the court.
A communique from the office of the registrar-general of Delhi High Court, Rakesh Kapoor, announced on Friday that “all the judges are agreeable to make their assets public”, though the modalities are still to be worked out.
A resolution on the decision was passed unanimously after a meeting of the Full Court chaired by Chief Justice A P Shah. The Delhi High Court’s decision is significant because it is here that the apex court is contesting a judgment by the Central Information Commission (CIC) directing SC judges to make their assets public.
The registrar-general of Kerala High Court, D Sreevallabhan, said that at a meeting of the Full Court on Friday, all judges had agreed to put up details of their assets on the court website within a month.
“The strength of the Kerala High Court is 38 and now there are 33 judges, including the Chief Justice. All 33 judges have decided to declare their assets and these will be put up on the website of court,” Sreevallabhan said.
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