In LS, MPs say judiciary should be accountable
The Lok Sabha on Thursday saw members across party lines making a strong pitch for making judiciary more accountable’. The occasion was the discussion on the High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salary and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2008.
By ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha on Thursday saw members across party lines making a strong pitch for making judiciary more accountable���. The occasion was the discussion on the High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salary and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2008. Law minister Hans Raj Bhardwaj was left to listen in embarrassment as MP after MP castigated the judiciary for its failure to eliminate pendency of cases and in-house corruption. They also called for a relook into the procedure of appointing judges.
Opposing the bill, CPM member Varkala Radhakrishnan took the judiciary to task for lacking in accountability. ���We���re in a strange situation. The judiciary is not accountable to anyone. Corruption is rampant, and there is no way to control it,������ he said, citing the instances of Ghaziabad PF scam, the alleged involvement of a Calcutta high court in the misappropriation of funds and the case pertaining to the Punjab and Haryana high court who was found to have been the recipient of a huge amount of money through dubious means.
The CPM veteran also found fault in the procedure of appointment of Supreme Court and High Court judges. You cannot find a parallel in any parliamentary democracy where judges appoint themselves. ``Whenever the executive has to appoint a judge, it has to seek the judiciary���s consent . Everything ��� their appointment, service conditions ��� is decided by them,������ he pointed out.
Making out a strong case for an accountable judiciary, Mr Radhakrishnan wanted the government to appoint a national judicial commission to look into the various issues pertaining to them. Mr Rasa Singh Rawat, while supporting the bill, wanted the government to clarify whether judges were within the purview of RTI Act. He also called upon the judiciary to take immediate steps to ensure that cases were decided fast and to fill up vacancies at various levels.
Senior BJD member Prasanna Acharya, while endorsing the bill, wanted the judiciary to look inward and find out ways to weed out corruption. He also picked holes in the procedure of removal of tainted judges. The BJD leader accused the Manmohan Singh government of sitting on Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan���s recommendation to sack a Calcutta high court judge after finding him guilty of indulging in corruption.
He also found it strange that the judges should be kept outside the ambit of RTI. ``When the prime minister, ministers, MPs and MLAs have to declare their assets, why cannot judges follow suit,������ he wondered.
Referring to a reply given earlier in the House by the law minister to a question on the procedure of appointment of judges, Mr Rewati Raman Singh (Samajwadi Party) said that there was no country in the world where judges were responsible for their own appointment. ``There is no accountability in the judiciary. After all, they are accountable to Parliament, to the people,������ he said.
Opposing the bill, CPM member Varkala Radhakrishnan took the judiciary to task for lacking in accountability. ���We���re in a strange situation. The judiciary is not accountable to anyone. Corruption is rampant, and there is no way to control it,������ he said, citing the instances of Ghaziabad PF scam, the alleged involvement of a Calcutta high court in the misappropriation of funds and the case pertaining to the Punjab and Haryana high court who was found to have been the recipient of a huge amount of money through dubious means.
The CPM veteran also found fault in the procedure of appointment of Supreme Court and High Court judges. You cannot find a parallel in any parliamentary democracy where judges appoint themselves. ``Whenever the executive has to appoint a judge, it has to seek the judiciary���s consent . Everything ��� their appointment, service conditions ��� is decided by them,������ he pointed out.
Making out a strong case for an accountable judiciary, Mr Radhakrishnan wanted the government to appoint a national judicial commission to look into the various issues pertaining to them. Mr Rasa Singh Rawat, while supporting the bill, wanted the government to clarify whether judges were within the purview of RTI Act. He also called upon the judiciary to take immediate steps to ensure that cases were decided fast and to fill up vacancies at various levels.
Senior BJD member Prasanna Acharya, while endorsing the bill, wanted the judiciary to look inward and find out ways to weed out corruption. He also picked holes in the procedure of removal of tainted judges. The BJD leader accused the Manmohan Singh government of sitting on Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan���s recommendation to sack a Calcutta high court judge after finding him guilty of indulging in corruption.
He also found it strange that the judges should be kept outside the ambit of RTI. ``When the prime minister, ministers, MPs and MLAs have to declare their assets, why cannot judges follow suit,������ he wondered.
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Referring to a reply given earlier in the House by the law minister to a question on the procedure of appointment of judges, Mr Rewati Raman Singh (Samajwadi Party) said that there was no country in the world where judges were responsible for their own appointment. ``There is no accountability in the judiciary. After all, they are accountable to Parliament, to the people,������ he said.
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