Corruption in judiciary : Confirmed by Union Law Minister

is the bill already putted before the parliament? egger to know.

dear members

yes, agreed with most of the comments

but the major portion of the blame must lie with the govt - what was it doing all these years when it knows well that there is corruption in judiciary?

atleast veerappa moily is speaking out on this. let us hope he does something tangible. or is it a fond hope? 

dear members

can anybody point to weblink for the judgement cited above (contempt petition 203 of 1996)?

i am not able to get it from supreme court website. what is special about this order?  

Dear Sir,

The Govt cannot be blamed b'cous they hav no time to look in there the minor corruptions and how can they concentrate of Big corruption in Judiciary who is Guarding  them. If they dont Gaurd there will no appointment of Judges and Govt doesnt Guard they all hav come to court weekly or monthly.... Thats a small understanding...

 Why not get the judgement and upload it? Tired of it?

 It is a non-existent judgement and we are taken on a run around.

Carry on corruption in lower judiciary.

NEW DELHI: Billed to be the solution for alleged corruption in higher judiciary, the fate of the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill hangs in uncertainty as an overwhelming majority of the Union Cabinet on Monday expressed serious reservations over the efficacy of the proposed mechanism to inquire into allegations against judges. 

WELL DONE. GO AHEAD,

..........WE MUST OVERCOME IN SOMEDAY........

                             ............ DEEP IN MY HEART, I DO BELIVE..................

Judicial Accountability

S.O.S - eVoice For Justice - e-news weekly

Spreading the light of humanity & freedom



Editor: Nagaraj.M.R...vol.5.issue.46....14/11/2009





Editorial : Judicial Accountability in India



Kindly go through the following articles & provide justice by giving complete
truthful information to us.


https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/accountability-of-indian-judges
,



The constitution of India has prescribed certain FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES to each
citizens of India. It is the duty of every citizen to protect & uphold the
dignity , honour of our democratic institutions , to protect our national
integrity , to respect & protect the rights of our fellow citizens. No
constitutional authority has the right to obstruct the discharge of these
duties by citizens of India. No legal privileges of constitutional functionaries
is superior over the FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES OF CITIZEN'S OF INDIA.



We need rights to perform our duties. Constitution of India has guaranteed those
rights as FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS to all citizens of India & by birth itself everyone
of us has secured HUMAN RIGHTS as individuals. To express ourselves , we need
information , data feed back , to ascertain whether we are getting equal
opportunity , whether we are getting equitable justice , etc , we need
information . so , basically Right To Information is an inalienable part of our
fundamental rights & human rights. What RTI Act has done is fixed time limit ,
responsibilities of public servants up to certain extent. However the citizen's
fundamental right & human right to seek information extends far beyond the scope
of RTI Act.



Hereby , e-voice seeks complete truthful information from supreme court of
India , with respect to my RTI application appeal no : APPEAL NO. 91 / 2007.
HEREBY , WE ARE ONLY SEEKING ACCOUNTABILITY OF PUBLIC SERVANTS IN PUBLIC
INTEREST & JUSTICE. Hereby , we at e-voice request you to register this appeal
as a PIL petition & to ascertain the stand of apex court on various matters
raised in my RTI Application , in public interest & equitable justice.

he above stated public servants have failed to provide full information to us ie
e-voice as per RTI Act , thereby covering up the criminals. The requested
informations were no state secrets , no defense secrets but the accountability
of above stated public offices. The information was requested for public
welfare , to secure equitable justice to public , to stop corrupt practices in
public service , in exercise of my FUNDAMENTAL DUTY as a citizen of India.
However the above stated public servants preferred to violate law themselves &
to protect the criminals.

The public servants & the government must be role models in law abiding acts ,
for others to emulate & follow. if a student makes a mistake it is excusable &
can be corrected by the teacher. if the teacher himself makes a mistake , all
his students will do the same mistake. if a thief steals , he can be caught ,
legally punished & reformed . if a police himself commits crime , many thieves
go scot-free under his patronage. even if a police , public servant commits a
crime , he can be legally prosecuted & justice can be sought by the aggrieved.



just think , if a judge himself that too apex court of the land itself commits
crime - violations of RTI Act , constitutional rights & human rights of public
and obstructs the public from performing their constitutional fundamental duties
, what happens ?



it gives a booster dose to the rich & mighty , those in power , criminals in
public service to commit more crimes. that is exactly what is happening in
india. the educated public must raise to the occasion & peacefully ,
democratically must oppose this criminalization of judiciary , public service.
then alone , we can build a RAM RAJYA OF MAHATMA GANDHI'S DREAM.

JAI HIND. VANDE MATARAM.



Your's sincerely,

Nagaraj.M.R.

CRIMES COMMITTED BY LAW COURTS IN INDIA

- An appeal to honourable supreme court of india



Indian prisons are meant to be reforming schools for the prisoners. By the
corrupt practices of the officials , the prisons have become factories turning
out hardened criminals.



Say , a person was caught by police on suspicion of pick-pocketing. The
police produce the accussed before the magistrate , in turn he remands him for
judicial custody. Let us consider , The punishment for this offence
pick-pocketing as per law is 6 months imprisonment. However the case drags on
for 3 years , finally the court finds him guilty of offence & orders for 6
months imprisonment. Totally, the offender serves 42 months imprisonment
sentence in practice. In some cases , the courts consider the time already spent
by the accussed behind the bars while giving judgement. In this example , even
if the offender is let free taking 6 months imprisonment sentence, the offender
has been given excess sentence of 36-6=30 months.



Taking the same example further, say the court finds the accused as innocent,
not guilty of crime & lets him free. However , the poor chap has suffered 36
months imprisonment for no fault of his.



As per law, no body not even the courts of law are legally empowered to punish
anybody beyond the legal procedures , rules established. In this way, due to
delay in our legal system , faulty bail procedures , thousands of under-trials
are suffering in various prisons throught India. Arew not the courts which
remanded those accused to judicial custody responsible for this illegal act of
excessive punishment ? what punishment should be given to those judges ?



The bail procedure in India , is also faulty without considering quantum of
offence & financial status of the accused. A person accused of stealing rs.100
has to provide bail surety bond of rs.5000 or personal surety by a wealthy
person / government servant. The poor person having personal contacts ,
friendship with rich persons / government servants is quite remote , so he
can'nt secure bail on personal bond. The poor chaps family is not rich enough to
spend rs.5000 surety amount. As a result, unable to secure bail the poor chap
suffers in jail for years.



Say, a rich industrialist is accused of rs.20 crores tax evasion, he is let
free on a personal bond of rs.1 lakh. Stamp paper scam kingpin karim lala telgi
has swindled government to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees, only few
cases are registered against him. That too in one out of those cases involving
rs.45 lakh worth stamp sale , judge has given him rigorous imprisonment plus a
fine of rs.50000.



Considering the above examples it is quite clear the bail amount, fine amount
are peanuts for the rich just a fraction of quantum of their crime , while for
the poor it is huge many times more than the quantum of their crime.. it is
biased towards rich & mighty criminals. As a result poor always suffers in jail,
while rich are out on bail.



Even within prisons , the number of prisoners per sq.ft area , no of doctors ,
hospital beds , medicines available, weight of food per day given to prisoners ,
are all less & much below the statuotary limits. The food , health care , living
conditions of prisoners , under-trials are worse than pigs. The prison
authorities are utterly corrupt, which has been brought into light again & again
by the media. If a poor prisoner questions the illegal acts of the officials ,
he is subjected to 3rd degree torture , roughed up by rowdy prisoners on the
instigation of the officials themselves. Many poor prisoners are suffering from
health problems , many are dying due to lack of proper health care & food in the
prisons.



Whereas , the rich & mighty prisoners , by payting bribe get non-veg ,
alchoholic drinks from outside restaurants daily. They even secure drugs . they
get spacious VIP rooms , television , mobile phones. They easily get parole &
easily gets admitted in outside hospitals & roam free , while on record they are
in-patients in hospitals.



The law of limitation which stipulates time limits for filing various cases is
also biased towards the government as a party & rich , mighty. For the purposes
of evidences , filing of cases one needs various government records. The
concerned officials don't provide those records for years unless bribed & sit
over the files for years. Some times by making absurd , illogical file notings ,
rejects it back. There is no time limit for the performance of duties by public
servants. When a commoner don�t get relevant records , files , evidences in
time , how can he file cases in time without those records , evidences ?



Nowadays , numerous cases of irregularities , charges of corruption against
judges are coming to light. However , in such cases judges are asked to resign
from service but no criminal prosecution against them is instituted , only in
cases involving lower court judges it is done. When a case of irregularity by a
judge in a specific present case comes , there are every possibility that in the
past also he has committed the same in cases handled by him which has not come
to light. In such instances , all the cases handled by that particular judge
throught his career must be reviewed , but is not done why ? does not it amount
to cover-ups ?



In many cases the higher courts have turned down the verdicts of the lower
courts , let free the innocents , absolved innocents of charges & annulled death
sentences when appeals came before them. However , in all such cases , the
lower court judges must be punished for giving out wrong judgements, meating
out injustice to innocents. Here a fact must be noted , only a fraction of
cases goes in appeal to higher courts, as in majority of cases the poor people
lack the financial might to make the appeal. The so-called free legal services
authority pre-judges the cases before giving legal aid. As a result , many
innocents poor people resign to their fates suffer injustice in courts of law ,
undergo imprisonment punishment , some times even death sentence. So , the
urgent need of the hour is to incorporate jury system or some outside monitoring
system to review cases as & when decided.



In many cases involving the rich & mighty like telgi , case proceedings are
conducted in-camera in judge's chambers or proceedings are conducted through
video conferencing . outside from public gaze. The tapes are not made public
and the public cann't even ascertain the validity of tapes , whether it is
edited , doctored .



One of the basic reasons for delayed justice & worse prison conditions in
India , is low number of judges , police personnel , higher rate of case
adjournments and finally low amount of financial grants made by the government
to judicial department / police department. The government states that it
doesn't have enough money to provide for judiciary & police. As a result,
fundamental / human rights of innocent commoners are thwarted. The state
governments & GOI , is one of either parties in 75% of cases before various
courts in India, it is the biggest litigant & is influencing the judiciary by
controlling the grants , recruitment to judiciary & by enticing some with
post-retirement postings.



The government has got money to spend on lavish parties of VVIPs , IAS officers
serving non-veg foods , alchoholic drinks . their foreign jaunts , 5-star
bungalows , limousines , interior decorations of their bungalows, etc. which is
of higher priority , importance , whether the luxury of VVIPs or the fundamental
/ human rights of commoners ? the courts should answer. The courts have the
legal powers to order governments to provide enough financial grants to it ,
however it is keeping mum , turning blinds eye to crimes of VVIP�s. the
government rewards such judges with salary hikes , promotions , luxury cars ,
bungalows , perks and post-retirement postings , sites at judicial lay-out ,
yelahanka , Bangalore , etc.



We at e-voice have utmost respect for the judiciary , but hereby humbly
bringing the crimes of judiciary before the honest few judges seeking justice
to the common folk.










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SC Judges reveal asset on website

The Supreme Court on Monday, 2nd November, posted the Assets of Supreme Court
judges on its website, clarifying that the declarations were being made on a
voluntary basis only! This despite the fact that the decision to reveal assets
on the website was taken on Aug. 26 in the backdrop of a raging controversy over
resistance by the SC to answer a query regarding assets of judges. As this
MailToday story reports, declarations lack information with some Judges giving
only sketchy details and not mentioning the value of their movable and immovable
assets. more...


Ghaziabad provident fund scam main accused dies under mysterious circumstances

Ashutosh Asthana, the main accused in the Ghaziabad provident fund scam, was
found dead in his prison cell on 17th October 2009. It is known that he was
clearly under a lot of pressure, as was evident from his statement in which he
tried to change his first confessional statement as well as another affidavit
through his lawyer in which he stated that he had given the second statement
under pressure. In his S. 164 confessional statement before the Magistrate of
Ghazibad court, he had confessed that of the 7 crore embezzled, he had given
cash and gifts such as air conditioners, refrigerators, expensive clothes,
jewellery and furniture to many judges including judges of the High Court and a
Supreme Court judge. news report


Contempt of Court & the Conflict of Interest Controversy

Last week there were newspaper reports that the Supreme Court has permitted the
filing of a contempt petition against Mr. Prashant Bhushan for allegedly casting
aspersions against some judges including Justice Kapadia, for his violating the
law against judges hearing cases where there is a conflict of Interest, by his
hearing and deciding the Vendanta case despite having shares in Sterlite (a
subsidary company of Vendanta).
Here's an excellent article by Manoj Mitta (Times of India) that unfolds
interesting aspects of the Justice Kapadia conflict of interest controvesy and
how this principle (also importantly adopted by the SC judges in 1997 through
the Restatement of Judicial Values), has been completely violated by Justice
Kapadia in his hearing and deciding this and other Sterlite cases.
....article


Corrpution in the Judiciary : Tehelka investigates...

In this Tehelkha story, Brijesh Pandey and Sanjay Dubey track the Supreme
Court's lack of urgency in investigating charges of judicial
corruption....article


The Dinakaran Imbroglio: Appointments and Complaints against Judges

The Dinakaran episode has brought to the surface the vexed problem of the
arbitrary and totally unsatisfactory manner of selecting and appointing judges
as well as the unresolved problem of dealing with complaints of misconduct and
corruption against judges. In this bracing article Prashant Bhushan analyses
these long simmering twin problems which lie at the heart of Judicial
Accountablity...more


Appointment of Judges – the Justice Dinakaran Controversy

Public opinion is now stirring over the issue of appointment of judges,
especially appointments made to the Supreme Court and High Courts in India,
which remain largely arbitrary, adhoc and non-transparent.
The man at the centre of the storm is the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High
Court, Justice Dinakaran, whose name has been recommended, along with four
others by the SC collegium for elevation as judges of the SC.
The controversy came to surface with a written complaint to the SC collegium by
the Forum for Judicial Accountability. The first representation against Jusitce
Dinakaran dated 9th September 2009 was regarding his amassing huge assets,
corruption and serious irregularities. The Second representation listed further
particulars with supporting material and the 3rd representation surfaced
additional information regarding amassing of further properties and the exercise
of judicial powers to decide cases in his own cause. The representations sent to
SC collegium can be accessed here… Representation 1 Representation 2
Representation 3 Representation 4


Loathing and fear in TN Village - Justice Dinakaran's Empire demystified

Read the Mail Today feature as M.C. Rajan in Chennai tracks Chief Justice
Dinkaran's disproportionate property details and other instances of judicial
misconduct while also detailing other judges caught in controversy... all of
which exerting pressure on the need to lift the veil of secrecy over judicial
appointments...more


Historic Ruling in favour of Transparency and Accountability - The Judges'Assets
case

The Delhi High Court ruled on 2nd September 2009, that the Chief Justice of
India (CJI) is a "public authority" within the meaning of the Right to
Information Act and has to make public the information on assets declared to him
by judges under the 1997 resolution of Chief Justices. The argument that such
information has been collected under fiduciary capacity by the CJI was also held
to be insubstantial.. The ruling by Justice Ravindra Bhat, which came on the
Supreme Court's appeal against an almost identical order from the Central
Information Commissioner (CIC), runs counter to the consistent stand of Chief
Justice K G Balakrishnan that the CJI could not be termed as a public authority
under RTI Act..view judgement


CJAR Public Statement on SC judges decision to put their assets on website

The decision of the Supreme Court judges to put their asset declarations on the
Supreme Court website is a welcome first step towards transparency and
accountability of judges in this country. It is also a tribute to the power of
public opinion... However, this decision of the Supreme Court judges does not
obviate the need for a law to make such public declarations compulsory. Indeed,
the law must provide for an annual public declaration of assets and liabilities
as well as income tax returns of all public servants, including judges...more


The Judges' Assets Saga

In February 2009, the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reform (CJAR)
issued an Open Letter to Judges of all the High Courts and the Supreme Court to
publicly declare their assets. It was urged through this letter, that by making
a public declaration of their assets, Judges' would be setting an example of
transparency in the country which would then be emulated by other public
servants in the country. In response to this letter, Justice K. Kannan of the
Punjab and Haryana High Court, perhaps the first judge to voluntarily make his
assets public, sent an email to Mr. Prashant Bhushan, Convener, CJAR, stating,
that while he held views against the demand for public declaration of judges'
assets, he had no qualms in sharing his financial and property details, which he
attached to the email. The correspondence between Mr. Prashant Bhushan and
Justice Kannan can be accessed here. Further the document sent by Justice Kannan
detailing his point of view can also be read here.


Karnataka High Court's, Justice DV Shylendra Kumar on Declaration of Assets by
Judges

Running out rightly contrary to the refusal of Judges of the High Courts and
Supreme Court to publicly declare their assets, Justice, DV Shylendra Kumar of
the Karnataka High Court, powerfully expresses his views against the Chief
Justice of India speaking on behalf of the country's judiciary as well as
Justice Kumar's right to express his views freely and without fear. His articles
in the New Indian Express can be read here and here. Justice Kumars asset
details as posted on a website can be accessed here.


Too High a horse - Ram Jethmalani

Former Law Minister, Mr. Ram Jethmalani asserts that judges must disclose their
assets to maintain public confidence in the courts more....article


Law Commission of India - Report on Reforms in the Judiciary

The Law Commission of India, Chaired by Justice Dr. Justice AR. Lakshmanan, in
its REPORT NO. 230 focuses on REFORMS IN THE JUDICIARY, offering some
suggestions. The report was submitted to the Union Minister of Law and Jusitce,
Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India by the Law Commission on the
5th of August, 2009. Copy of the report can be found here.


CJI-Please declare my assets: Justice J.S. Verma

Former Chief Justice of India reitirates - Judicial accountability requires
transparency. Public knowledge of the antecedents, assets and liabilities of the
judge, spouse and dependents is necessary for adjudging the judge's conduct and
suitability for the performance of official duties... more.


Accountable or not - Fali S. Nariman

Renowned Jurist Fali S. Nariman states in this article that if the credibility
of the higher judiciary is to be restored, as he believes it must — since
without the higher judiciary our Constitution simply cannot work — it is
essential that every judge of the Supreme Court set an example and voluntarily
make a public disclosure of his (or her) assets on the website of the Supreme
Court, law or no law. more.


Limits of Judicial Conduct - V.R. Krishna Iyer

A Performance Commission to investigate delinquent judges is essential if
egregious judicial blunders are to be minimised. Read this thought provoking
artcile where Justice Krishna Iyer dwells on the limits of judicial conduct in
the present day context. more.


Judges (Declaration of Assets and Liabilities) Bill 2009 access copy here


CJAR Statement on proposed Bill on Declaration of Assets

Government of India has recently declared that bill is proposed to be tabled in
the parliament on the issue of declaration of assets by the judges. This bill
mandates all judges to compulsorily declare their assets to respective Chief
Justices. In light of this, Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms
have issued a public statement. Through this statement, CJAR has called for a
public and annual declaration of assets by the Judges to ensure that the
objective of transparency through this proposed Bill is achieved. The statement
also appeals that the proposed Bill be finalised after effective consultation
with civil society. The statement has been endorsed by many eminent persons from
all walks of life. The statement can be downloaded from here.


CJAR Strategic planning meeting

On 11th July 2009, strategic planning meeting of the members of CJAR was held.
In this meeting, future course of action of the Campaign was discussed. In this
meeting, apart from other issues, recently passed legislation "Gram Nyalalaya
Act", recommendation of 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission on Judicial
Reforms were also discussed. Minutes of the meeting can be found here. Gram
Nyayalaya Act, as passed by parliament can be found here. It can be compared
with the Draft Gram Nyalayaya Bill as introduced in Rajya Sabha. Draft Bill can
be found here. Excerpts from recommendations of 2nd ARC can be found here. In
the meeting, status report of the activities of the CJAR during last year was
also presented. This report can be downloaded from here.


"Failing the common people"

India has an independent judiciary. Nonetheless, the gaps between codified law
and grassroots reality are wide. The Delhi-based Campaign for Judicial
Accountability and Judicial Reforms wants matters to change. Prashant Bhushan,
one of its leaders, explained what is wrong with the courts and what could make
a difference in a D+C/E+Z-interview. ...more


Govt probing assets owned by ex-CJI Sabharwal's family

In the reply to an application filed under Right to Information Act, Central
Government has admitted that pursuant to the complaint from CJAR regarding undue
monetary advantage to the family members of Justice Sabharwal due to his
controversial orders on sealing the business establishments in Delhi; CBI has
been directed to investigate the matter. CBI is investigaing various aspects of
the case, including the allegation of misuse of public office by the family
members of Justice Sabharwal. ...more


Lack of Judicial Accountability in India

Recently, in a talk in South Asian Studies Department, Princeton, Prashant
Bhushan delivered a talk on "Lack of Judicial Accountability in India". In this
talk, Prashant has pointed how judiciary has acqired self-perpetrating oligarchy
and has bocome powerful. He has also pointed out as to how the judiciary has
been making attempts to keep itself cocooned and has dismissed all attempts to
make it accountable. ...more


Sacrificing Human Rights and Environmental Rights at the Alter of "Development"

Recently, in a talk in George Washington University Law School, Washington,
Prashant Bhushan presented a carefully researched paper titled Sacrificing Human
Rights and Environmental Rights at the Altar of "Development". In this paper,
Prashant has pointed how "insensitive" the judiciary is, towards the poor.
Indian courts have failed to protect the socio-economic rights of the common
people of India who constitute the vast majority of the Indian population. The
main reason behind the insensitiveness of judiciary is that the higher judiciary
in India invariably comes from the elite section of the society nd it has become
a self-appointing and self-perpetuating oligarchy, says Prashant. ...more


Screening of Dam-age

Screening of the documentary "Dam-age", which covers the infamous Sardar Sarovar
Project on the Narmada and the Arundhati Roy contempt case, took place at the
India International Centre Auditorium on Saturday March 7, 2009. Read more about
the film on the website of Icuras Films. You can also see the film on Google
Video.


RTI on recruitmentsin DHC

An RTI application was filed in the Delhi High Court seeking information on
recruitments of the Class III and Class IV employees from 1990 to 2000. The
PIO's response was that vacant positions were not always advertised nor
interviews/tests conducted, whereas on the other hand several hundred temporary
and adhoc appointments were made over this period. This goes to expose the
complete violation of all rules of fairness and just procedure in recruitment
and appointment at the Delhi High Court....more; ..application in pdf format;
..application in word



Impeachment motion against Justice Sen moved

58 MPs of Rajya Sabha sent a letter to the Vice Prersident and the Chairman of
Rajya Sabha seeking impeachment of Justice Soumitra Sen. News were published in
...Economic Times ...Hindu ...Indian Express


Public Action : 26th Feb. '09

With the backdrop of a legal tussle over disclosure of assets by Judges, the
Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reform, organised a public protest
outside the Supreme Court, in a bid for greater transparency and accountability
in the judiciary. A silent demonstration Near Indian Law Institute, Opposite
Supreme Court from 10 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. on the 26th of February, 2009. ...more;
..photos


Judicial Delays Petition

This petition is to seek redressal for crores of Indian citizens who are
routinely denied justice because of its delayed and therefore, ineffective
dispensation. It is to restore to them their fundamental and constitutional
rights guaranteed under Articles 21, 14, 19 and the Preamble, and to enforce the
constitutional obligations of State under Article 39A of the Constitution of
India. ...more


An Open Letter to Judges

Eminent persons from different walks of life and movements have written an open
letter to all Judges of Supreme Court and all High Courts in India, calling them
upon to declare their assets voluntarily and set an example for other public
servents. ...letter ...more


Article: "Completely Collapsed System"

News report in International Business Times highlighting the conditions of
Indian Courts and pendency of cases. ...article


Article: "Dismantling the walls of secrecy"

A number of steps are required to strengthen the transparency regime sought to
be established by the RTI Act. Tarunabh Khaitan writes in Frontline. ...article


Article: "Go Ahead, Ask"

Aruna Roy an Nikhil Dey of National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information
RTI must be empowered to penetrate the veil of corporate India This article was
published in Tehelka ...article


Article: "Judging the Judges"

Recent cases underline the need for independent Constitutional bodies for the
appointment of judges as well as for investigating complaints against them.
These cannot be in-house bodies of judges and must be completely independent of
the judiciary as well as of the government. Prashant Bhushan writes in Outlook.
...article


Article: "In Suspension"

Chandrani Banerjee writes in Outlook on the issue of impeachment of Justice
Soumitra Sen as suggested by the Chief Justice of India and dilemma of the
present government. ...article


News: "CIC refuses to declare assets"

Members of the Central Information Commission have recently decided not to
declare their assets in public. ...news


Students Workshop

CJAR has yet again organised a Student Workshop on 'Judicial Accountability and
Reform' on Saturday, February 7, 2009. This workshop aimed at providing the
students with an overview and perspective on the judicial mechanism in the
country in the present context. Apart from this, issues and concerns of students
was also taken up and addressed through a time of open interaction and learning
sessions. Ranking them an important stakeholder group and building for their
fuller participation in the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and
Reform....invite


Press Converage

Press Release... ...more
NGO seeks consitutional body for judicial postings...more
Non-transparency in judiciary casuing scandals: CJAR ...more
Parties support sought to impeach HC Judge...more


Press Conference

A Press Conference is being organised by the Campaign for Judicial
Accountability and Reform on the recent controversies relating to appointment
and removal of judges, on Monday, 19th January, 2009 at 4p.m. at the Womens
Press Corps. The conference will be addressed by Mr. Prashant Bhushan, Senior
advocate, Supreme Court of India, Admiral R.H. Tahiliani (retired), former Chief
of Naval Staff and Chairman Transparency International, India, Ms. Kamini
Jaiswal, Senior advocate, Supreme Court of India and others....invite


The Judiciary: Hopes and Fear by Prashant Bhushan

When one examines the hopes and fears that one has from judiciary, it is
necessary to define the role that one expects the judiciary to play in the
country. Apart from dispensing justice in individual disputes brought before it,
the judiciary is expected to be the guardian of the Constitution and is supposed
to protect the fundamental rights of the people and implement the rule of
law....more


Appointment of Mr Ashwini Kumar Mata

Letter to Chief Justice of India dated January 6, 2008 on behalf of CJAR.
...more

Letter to Chief Justice of India ...more


Removal of Mr Justice Soumitra Sen

Students Text of the letter by Chief Justice of India to Prime Minister of India
for Removal of Mr. Justice Soumitra Sen, Judge, Calcutta High Court ...more


International Conference

International conference of jurists on `Terrorism, Rule of Law & Human Rights'
was held in New Delhi on December 13-14, 2008. text of the Inaugural speech of
Justice K.G.Balakrishna, CJI ...more


Above the Law

In Frontiline; A.G.Noorani, Nov 2008...more


Against the Law

In Frontiline; A.G.Noorani, Nov 2008...more


RTI and Judiciary

CJI not exempt from RTI purview, CIC tells Supreme Court; Times of India, Jan 7,
2009...more


PF scam case

PF scam judge transferred to Punjab and Haryana High Cout; Tribune, Jan 7,
2009...more


Too many case

In Frontiline; Nick Robinson, ...more

Students Workshop

A Half-day Students workshop on "Judicial Accountablity and Reforms" was
organised by the Campaign on Saturday, October 18, 2008 at 6/5 Jangpura B, New
Delhi fom 9 am to 1 pm. ....agenda



Panel Discussion

A Panel discussion on "Judicial Accountability - Appointment, Investigations and
Removal" is organised by the Campaign on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at
Plenary Hall, Indian Law Institute, Bhagwan Das Road, New Delhi. ...background
note


More News on Judges Scam

- PM calls for introspection on judicial appointments;Sept 12, 2008 ...more
- A Rough Justice; Indian Express; Sept 10, 2008 ...more
- UP cops want CBI probe against 34 judges; Sept 10, 2008 ...more
- CBI can question two P&H High Court Judges; Sept 10, 2008 ...more
- How to Judge a Judge; Sept 10, 2008 ...more
- PF scam: UP getsflak for failing to order CBI probe; Sept 10, 2008 ...more
- Stemming rot; Judges dont need complete immunity says CJI; Sept 10, 2008
...more
- Justice Sen not resigning; Sept 10, 2008 ...more
- Judging the Judge; Sept 10, 2008 ...more
- Kolkatta Judges case adds to judicial woes; Sept 09 , 2008 ...more
- Why it's s difficult to remove a judge; Sept 09, 2008 ...more
- Centre moves to impeach HC judge; Sept 09, 2008 ...more
- CJI recommends impeachment of Calcutta HC judge; Sept 08, 2008 ...more


Ghaziabad Judges Scam

- The Hindu; July 15, 2008 ...more
- Hindustan Times; July 15, 2008 ...more
- Indian Express; July 15, 2008 ...more
- Hindustan Times; July 13, 2008 ...more
- The Hindu; July 08, 2008 ...more
- Times of India; July 08, 2008 ...more
- The Telegraph; July 08, 2008 ...more
- ZEE News; July 04, 2008 ...more


Judges' Wealth: Info body seeks opinions

In an attempt to settle the controversy surrounding the implementation of Right
to Information Act in the judiciary, the Central Information Commission (CIC)
has directed Supreme Court officials and the Department of Personnel and
Training to present their views on the matter.


Ex-chief justice under corruption panel scanner

In a development unprecedented in the country's judicial history, the Central
Vigilance Commission (CVC), the government's anti-corruption watchdog, has
forwarded a set of complaints with allegations of corruption and misconduct
against former Chief Justice of India YK Sabharwal to the government for further
action.



Judges are Public Servants, not Bosses - J.Krishna Iyer

Contrary to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court recently said, the Right to
Information Act does cover 'constitutional authorities' ...more


Corruption in judiciary: It needs to have an Ombudsman of its own -
Fali S.Nariman







CJA





Judicial Accountability












Whether judges are appointed or elected it is their performance on the bench and
their accountability for improper activities that is crucial.

While there is great debate as to how judges are put on the bench, the public's
dissatisfaction with the so-called independence of the judiciary and with the
inadequacy of the judicial disciplinary machinery is disregarded by the Bench
and Bar.

We say that our system of government is a democracy. Yet we have a judiciary
with absolute power over our courts, unparalleled in history. This power is
founded on judicial independence, judicial immunity and control over the Bar.
Our system of government is based on separation of powers and does not allow
such concentration of power in the judicial branch.

Florida is typical of the legal system throughout the country. Although the
judiciary asserts immense power over the lives of individuals and the conduct of
businesses, they have rendered themselves totally unaccountable to the public or
to any other branch of government.

The judges and lawyers maintain their stronghold on the legal system on the myth
that they are the guardians of the constitutional rights of the people and that
the lawyers champion these rights in a court of law that is just and fair.

However, the legal profession has become big business, where justice is not the
objective but, to keep the clock running for billable hours for the maximum
profit. Although judges and lawyers hypothetically take an oath to uphold the
laws and the constitution of the land, in many cases that oath might as well
have been taken on the cook book, to brew up litigation to use the legal system
for an assembly line conversion of the victim's assets into fees, or to
confiscate it outright.

Even if, there are some judges and lawyers dedicated to the proper
administration of justice, unfortunately there are many who are not. To create
fees, lawyers can litigate frivolous, false claims or defenses endlessly and can
drag on a simple case for years. To stop the litigation, the attorneys can
demand payment, a so-called settlement which in many cases is nothing more than
a form of extortion. These practices not only harm the individual litigants but,
is an unconscionable waste of the taxpayers' money and clog up the court system.

Many judges acting in conjunction with attorneys, abuse the judicial
independence given to them in trust and confidence of the people. The myth is
dispelled when we are confronted by judges who disregard the rules; allow the
distortion of facts sometimes to the point of perjury; exclude evidence; rely on
laws which have no relevance to the legal and factual issues; issue decisions
which fabricate facts and are contrary to the record; deliberately omit critical
facts from the record; fail to follow the controlling law and precedent; or
issue decisions without any stated facts or law; and approve unreasonable and
unconscionable fees for attorneys. It is not unusual that property and money are
taken from the victims without the required due process and the victims are left
with nothing or a token of what they had or were entitled to.

Read about the best judges money can buy Click here Also please read Judges
Don't Care About My Life Click here. Judges should be made accountable for the
time they spend on the bench Click here. A response to ABA praising judges
Click here. A critical assessment of judges by former judge John Malloy click
here. According to a poll take by an American Bar Journal survey more than half
of Americans are angry and disappointed with the nation's judiciary. A majority
of the survey respondents agreed with statements that "judicial activism" has
reached the crisis stage, and that judges who ignore voters' values should be
impeached. Nearly half agreed with a congressman who said judges are "arrogant,
out-of-control and unaccountable." To read go go to,
https://www.abanet.org/journal/redesign/s30survey.html

To see the judicial selection method in the States go to
https://www.ajs.org/selection/sel_state-select-map.asp

Have a look at this interesting article from Rediff News:

"Corrupt people should be hanged in public:SC judge"
View this article

8 former CJIs are corrupt, ex-law minister tells SC
(Times of India, Mumbai Edition, 17th September,2010,  Page no. 01)

New Delhi: Former law minister Shanti Bhushan on Thursday created a sensation in the Supreme Court when he moved an application accusing eight former Chief Justices of India of “corruption’’, and dared the court to send him to jail for committing “contempt of court’’.

   The eight allegedly corrupt CJIs feature among a list of 16 prepared by Bhushan—comprising Justices Ranganath Mishra, K N Singh, M H Kania, L M Sharma, M N Venkatachalliah, A M Ahmadi, J S Verma, M M Punchhi, A S Anand, S P Bharucha, B N Kirpal, G B Patnaik, Rajendra Babu, R C Lahoti, V N Khare and Y K Sabharwal. Terming eight among the list as “definitely corrupt’’, Bhushan put their names in a sealed cover and submitted it to the Supreme Court and virtually dared it to open it and read out the contents.

   He said of the 16 on his list, “six were definitely honest and about the remaining two, a definite opinion cannot be expressed whether they were honest or corrupt’’.

   The veteran lawyer, who became famous by successfully arguing for setting aside the election of Indira Gandhi in 1975, triggering a chain of events leading to imposition of Emergency, resorted to the dramatic action in solidarity with his son, lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who is facing contempt charges for accusing current CJI S H Kapadia and his predecessors of misconduct.

   “Make me a party along with Prashant Bhushan,’’ requested Bhushan Sr, who was law minister in the post-Emergency Morarji Desai cabinet, as he challenged the SC to send him to jail for contempt.

‘Two ex-CJIs are my sources’

   Bhushan’s challenge to the SC can put the apex court in a bind. It may be constrained not to ignore the provocation lest it start a trend. The option of punishing the Bhushans, however, carries the risk of putting the father-son duo on a pedestal, and training the spotlight on their allegations when the issue of judicial corruption finds ready resonance with an expanding constituency. Of all the protests against alleged judicial corruption, the Bhushans’s is easily the most breathtaking, and will play well with the gallery.

   Bhushan sought to raise for judiciary the cost of any punishment to him, by saying that he was ready to face the consequences. “The applicant will consider it a great honour to spend time in jail for making an effort to get for the people of India an honest and clean judiciary,’’ he said. In his application, the former law minister spoke of both the growing corruption in judiciary as well as the tendency to sweep it under the carpet in the name of protecting judiciary’s reputation.

   Bhushan claimed that two former CJIs were among the sources of his information on corruption among their peers. “In fact, two former CJIs had personally told the applicant while they were in office that their immediate predecessor and immediate successor were corrupt judges. The names of these four CJIs are included in the list of corrupt CJIs,’’ Bhushan said. “Unless the level of corruption in the judiciary is exposed and brought in the public domain, the institutions of governance cannot be activated to take effective measures to eliminate the evil,’’ he added.

   “It is a common perception that whenever such efforts are made by anyone, the judiciary tries to target him by the use of the power to contempt. It is the reputation of the judge which is his shield against any malicious and false allegations against him. He does not need the power of contempt to protect his reputation and credibility,’’ Bhushan further said. TNN