“The image of the judiciary has taken a hit with allegations against judicial officers. Earlier, nobody had to guts to point fingers at the judiciary, now it is done openly. Now, people are raising questions on the credibility of judges. Scams like the provident fund scam in Uttar Pradesh in which some members of the higher judiciary had been named or bribery charge against a sitting judge of Punjab and Haryana High court, a charge from which the Judge was later acquitted, has raised various questions in the minds of the people." said Suraj Narain Prasad Sinha, Chairman, Bar Council of India, while speaking to The Indian Express, he was in the city as part of a UGC delegation visiting Bharati Vidyapeeth University's New Law College

Sinha said, “ Some years ago, the judiciary said that they were not bound to give information under the rules of Right to Information Act (RTI). That time I had opposed this stand taken by the judiciary. Now, Judges are voluntarily making disclosure of their assets.”

Sinha said that the standard of the judicial officers has gone down in the past few years. The reason for this is the best and brightest students do not join the bar anymore, instead they hunt for jobs corporate and Law firms. At this rate the situation would be worrying a few years down the line.

Even now, the standard of the judicial appointments is not what it used to be earlier. He said for a few years after joining the bar, the lawyers assist seniors and are paid so less that they can barely meet their personal expenses, this is the reason why many students head for the cushy jobs in law firms.

... contd.