'Govt not planning law to mandate higher judiciary judges to submit property returns': Law Minister Meghwal

New Delhi: In response to a query about the recommendation made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee in its August 2023 report on judicial reforms, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has clarified that the government is not considering legislation that would mandate judges of the higher judiciary to submit property returns.
Responding to the query about whether the government is considering a law mandating judges of the higher judiciary to submit property returns, as recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee in its August 2023 report titled Judicial Processes and their Reform, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said, 'the government is not contemplating such legislation.'
However, the "Restatement of Values of Judicial Life," adopted by the full Supreme Court on May 7, 1997, outlines judicial standards to be followed by judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts.
Based on this, the full bench of the Supreme Court, in its meeting on August 26, 2009, decided to make public the statements of assets submitted by judges by posting them on the Supreme Court's website. The disclosure was resolved to be voluntary and to take place by October 31, 2009, stated the law minister in reply.
Further, the Supreme Court had constituted a Committee of Judges to examine the issue of mandatory asset declarations by judges, following recommendations from the Departmental-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law, and Justice.
The Committee noted that the issue had already been extensively addressed in the Constitution Bench judgement in CPIO, Supreme Court of India vs. Subhash Chandra Agrawal (2020), and the procedure followed by the Full Court is in line with the judgement.
The Committee reaffirmed the Full Court's earlier decision that judges must declare their assets upon assuming office and whenever there is a substantial acquisition, submitting these declarations to the Chief Justice. This also includes declarations by the Chief Justice of India (CJI).
Additionally, the Committee proposed that the names of judges who have submitted their asset declarations should be displayed on the official Supreme Court website.
This proposal has been approved by the CJI, and the names of the judges who have made such declarations are now available on the Supreme Court's official website.