Judges Cannot Be Put Under The Public Scrutiny--Supreme Court

NEW DELHI:

The Supreme Court on Friday said judges cannot be put under public scrutiny as it would hamper their functioning and independence.

"We cannot expose our judges to public scrutiny or inquiry because it would hamper their functioning and independence," Attorney general Goolam E Vahanvati, appearing for apex court registry, contended before the Delhi High Court.

The argument was made while challenging the verdict of a single-judge bench of the High Court which had held that the office of the Chief Justice of India comes within the purview of Right to Information Act and details of judges' assets should be revealed.

The AG contended other agencies should not be allowed to interfere in the judiciary.

"Judges cannot be judged by public perception. The Judiciary cannot be exposed to third party. There is no problem in having better transparency and accountability in the system but it should come from within the system," he told a full bench court of the High Court headed by Chief Justice A P Shah.

The single bench of the High Court had in its September 2 verdict on the controversial issue held that the CJI was a public authority and his office came within the purview of the transparency law.

The judgment was contrary to the stand taken by CJI K G Balakrishnan who had consistently been maintaining that his office is beyond the purview of the Right to Information Act.