SC judges will declare their assets; how much transparency will be achieved?
#News Bureau April 3,2025
The Supreme Court has taken a historic step towards strengthening transparency and public trust in the judiciary. All the judges of the Supreme Court have agreed to make their asset declaration public. This decision was taken in a full-court meeting held on April 1, in which the judges decided to submit their asset information to the Chief Justice of India and upload it on the official website of the Supreme Court. This information was given by Live Law sources.
Although, at present, all the judges of the Supreme Court have submitted their asset declaration, but till now these declarations were not made public. This situation is going to change after this new decision. This step has come after the controversy in which alleged reports of cash being found in the official premises of Justice Yashwant Verma, who is serving as a judge of the Delhi High Court, came to light. With this, the discussion on the demand for National Judicial Appointment Commission i.e. NJAC gained momentum. This incident had raised questions about accountability and transparency in the judiciary.
The demand to make the assets of judges public in India has been raised from time to time by various politicians and activists. This issue has been a subject of discussion in the context of increasing transparency and accountability in the judiciary.
Former BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi had raised this issue in Parliament. In December 2023, in the Rajya Sabha, he had said that just as MPs, MLAs, IAS, IPS and other officers make their property details public, the assets of judges should also be made public. He argued that this would increase transparency in the judiciary and strengthen public confidence. He had made this demand in the broader context of judicial reforms.
When the cash controversy erupted during Justice Yashwant Verma’s tenure in the Delhi High Court, opposition leaders stressed the need for asset declaration in such cases.
Senior lawyer and activist Indira Jaising has long advocated transparency in the judiciary. She has raised the demand to make the assets of judges public under the Right to Information. She says that unless the information about the assets of judges is made public, there can be no effective control over the allegations of corruption in the judicial system. In an interview to the BBC, she had said that refusing to provide information about the assets of judges under RTI is against transparency.
Well-known lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan has also raised this issue loudly. He is known for campaigning against corruption in the judiciary. The Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms has been demanding reforms in the judiciary for a long time.
However, it is believed that public trust in the judiciary is an important basis of democracy. This decision to make the assets of judges public will not only promote accountability, but will also ensure that there is no scope for doubt in the judicial system. Experts believe that this step can also set an example for lower courts, where such transparency is still lacking.
