“Judging is not a job, it is a way of life. Whenever I enter the courtroom, I do so with the deep sense that, as I sit at trial, I stand on trial,” Justice S Ravindra Bhatt of the Delhi High Court said on Wednesday, ruling that the Chief Justice of India was a “public authority” obliged to disclose information on judges’ declared assets under the RTI.

Describing his “humbling experience” as a judge who agrees that the “little man” can no longer be kept in the dark about judges’ assets, Bhatt said in the verdict: “It would be highly anomalous to say that in exercise of the legitimate jurisdiction to impact people’s lives, property, liberties and individual freedoms, judges have no obligation to disclose their personal assets to someone or authority.”

The judge, the verdict said, was “a casual law-maker, just filling in the gaps”.

However, the court said, the Right to Information Act does not put an obligation on a judge to disclose the assets of family members. The contents of the declaration will be deemed as “personal information” unless its disclosure proves to be of larger public interest.

Justice Bhatt was giving his judgment on a petition filed by the Supreme Court against a Full Bench decision of the Central Information Commission (CIC), asking the Supreme Court to disclose if judges were declaring their assets as per the tenets of a 1997 resolution.

“All power — judicial power being no exception — is held accountable in a modern constitution. Holders of power too are expected to live by standards they set, interpret, or enforce, at least to the extent their office demands,” Justice Bhatt said.

... contd.