The Chief Justice of India ruled out compulsory annual declarations of wealth and assets by Supreme Court and high court judges. He said no self-respecting judge would accept such declarations or investigations into their conduct by committees of lay people. While welcoming a proposed National Judicial Council to enforce accountability, the Chief Justice rejected involving lay people in the council, saying external inquiries into judges could seriously compromise judicial independence.

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PTI
CJI rules out declaration of assets by judges
Sunday, 04 February , 2007, 12:21
New Delhi: Holding that there was no limit to judicial review, Supreme Court Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan has
ruled out the question of having any compulsory annual declaration of wealth and assets by judges of the apex
court and high courts.
No self-respecting judge would accept the idea of such compulsory declaration or have any committee of lay
persons to probe the conduct of the judiciary, Justice Balakrishnan maintained in an interview to Karan Thapar for
CNN-IBN programme 'Devil's Advocate', according to a press release of the channel.
Welcoming the proposed National Judicial Council intended for enforcing judicial accountability, the Chief Justice,
however, rejected the idea of involving any lay persons in the council.
"It is a question of independence of the judiciary. If any other person conducts such an inquiry about any judge, it
will cause serious encroachment into the independence of the judiciary. I personally believe if anyone else
inquires into the allegations against the judges and imposes punishment, I don't think any self-respecting judge
would like it," Justice Balakrishnan observed.
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