The Chief Justice of India has taken the right decision by finally agreeing that the assets of all judges will be made public. With this, the controversy has finally been settled. The judges were always on a weak wicket since politicians including the prime minister regularly declare their assets. So, if those making policies were not afraid to declare their assets, why should the the judges not declare their assets?
The government now needs to come out with a method to ensure that the judges do not suffer due to this. If, for instance, someone says a judge is corrupt and uses the disclosure of assets to ‘prove’ this, the judges’ integrity will be damaged forever. So just as the fact that an MP is rich does not prove that s/he is corrupt, the same standards have to be applied to a judge.
RK Khanna, New Delhi
Readers should write to:
The Editor, Business Standard,
Nehru House,
4, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
New Delhi 110 002,
Fax: (011) 23720201;
letters@bsmail.in