New Delhi:
Two months after the Supreme Court judges decided to make their assets public they have finally done it on the internet.
Judges of the Supreme Court and Justice BN Agarwal, who retired last month, have declared their assets which can be found on the Supreme Court website www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in.
The details posted on the website includes the assets of the judges and their spouses. It includes landed property, cash, jewellery investment in shares and the vehicles owned by the top judges.
The Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan has also declared his assets which includes land in Kerala, a flat in Ernakulam, and family property. He owns a Santro car but has no fixed deposits and holds no shares.
The decision to make it public was taken last week after CJI KG Balakrishnan and other judges finalised the details of their assets during the Dusshera and Diwali festivals with some of them availing the services of professional chartered accountants for the purpose.
The move comes against the backdrop of criticism from the legal fraternity and general public that the judges of the country's highest court who enjoyed the power of sending people to the gallows cannot fight shy of disclosing their assets to ensure probity in public life.
In a landmark judgement on September 2, the Delhi High Court had upheld a direction of the Central Information Commission (CIC) to the Supreme Court to provide information to an RTI applicant Subhash C Aggarwal as to whether the apex court judges were disclosing their assets to the CJI as mandated by a 1997 resolution.