- The whole country looks up to the Supreme Court in particular and the higher judiciary in general as the last beacon of hope expecting justice/relief on matters of importance for them. The higher judiciary continues to enjoy the confidence of the Indian citizens, which cannot be further emphasized since most of us look up to the High Courts and the Supreme Court for judicial consideration as the last word. To its credit, as the custodian of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has always stood up to the cause of the common people delivering requisite justice whenever distraught knocked on the hallowed doors. However, the country is also witness to how some of the judges in the higher judiciary have been found wanting to stay above scrutiny.
PC: Legal Vidhiya
- As we are aware, the recent incident of a Delhi HC judge finding himself allegedly embroiled in the huge cash reserves being unearthed in his residence again brings the question of propriety vis-à-vis the higher judiciary yet again. Though the Chief Justice of India has ordered a judicial in-house inquiry into the alleged matter, it must be mentioned that those inquiries don’t have a great record. Will it be different this time around? Note that last week’s report of firefighters finding a large stash of cash at a high court judge’s home in the nation’s capital was highly unusual. It was also disputed, both by the judge and senior personnel of the fire department itself. Then, the SC did something even more unusual.
PC: Law Trend
- It uploaded on its website the photos and video showing what was found. This means, amidst contradictory accounts, people can see for themselves that the found articles did indeed include currency notes. Big public interest in this developing story is very understandable. Of course, the SC order in turn hinges on judicial rectitude. Every murmur of dishonesty runs a tremor through the whole edifice. Per procedure, the CJI has constituted a committee to conduct an inquiry into the corruption allegations. It’s made up of the chief justices of Punjab & Haryana HC and Himachal Pradesh HC and a Karnataka HC judge. Notably, the investigation against the sitting judge of Delhi HC is scheduled to retire not before 2031.
PC: India Legal
- Further, it’s a significant matter to observe that no HC or SC judge has ever been impeached or convicted for corruption in India. Are in-house judicial procedures better? For the uninitiated, constituted in 1999, this procedure aims to preserve the independence of the judiciary as well as public faith in it. Disconcertingly, the International Commission of Jurists found this in-house procedure insular and even ineffective. The claim is underlined by noting that in 2022, the Union Law Minister told Parliament there were more than 1,600 complaints against HC and SC judges but no official information as to action taken on these complaints. This is on top of the opacity in the selection of judges. Hopefully, the inquiry in the instant case will see a logical conclusion.
