New Delhi: Chief Justice of India (CJI) K.G. Balakrishnan and 20 other judges of the Supreme Court (SC) made their assets public on Monday. The assets of justice B.N. Agrawal, who retired on 15 October, were also declared on the court’s website on his request.
“The above declaration of assets is purely on voluntary basis,” the SC said in its website.
Bringing transparency: Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan said the decision to declare assets was taken unanimously. Shahbaz Khan / PTI
However, details of the assets of justice H.S. Bedi were not available.
The SC judges made their assets public two months after the Delhi high court held that the office of the CJI falls under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and disclosure of assets of the apex court judges to him could be made public.
The CJI had said that under the changed circumstances, all the judges of the apex court, in a unanimous decision, had agreed to disclose their assets.
“We are strictly following the 7 May 1997 resolution. The only thing is that we are not disclosing it to the public. Now because of the changed circumstances, we will put it on the website,” Balakrishnan had said.
He had said the disclosure would be strictly in accordance with the 1997 resolution and the assets relating to real estate and investments made even in the name of dependants would be put on the website.
The Supreme Court registry on 5 October had challenged the verdict of the single-judge bench of the Delhi high court, contending that all the information that the CJI has in his official capacity cannot be revealed under the RTI Act.
The matter is pending before the high court, and a court division bench has fixed 12-13 November as the date to hear the appeal.