Chief Justice of India K G BALAKRISHNAN on Saturday said the judiciary has no objection if the government brings a law making it mandatory for members of the higher judiciary to declare their assets but only if there are adequate safeguards to ensure that it didn’t lead to harassment of judges. He also said it was for the Vice President, who is also the Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, to decide if he wanted jurist Fali Nariman to continue in the three-member panel to probe charges against Calcutta HC Judge Soumitra Sen. In an interview to MANEESH CHHIBBER, the CJI spoke his mind on major issues confronting the Indian judiciary.

Law Minister M Veerappa Moily has said that the government will bring a law to make it mandatory for judges to declare their assets? Has he discussed it with you?

The Law Minister has discussed the issue with me. But he has not spoken on the nature of the legislation. But I have told him that we (judiciary) have no objection in disclosing our assets provided the judges are not unnecessarily harassed by disgruntled litigants. Most of the litigants who lose their case in court say so many things. It is not as if judges are not providing details of their properties or filing Income Tax returns. But people will start asking questions about value of properties.

Maybe, most don’t understand that many judges are successful lawyers before elevation, charging five-figure fee per case. Is it your concern that their pre-elevation assets could come under scrutiny?

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