10/2/2019 Judicial Accountability Bill

Legal Service India.com

Law Articles SEARCH

Judicial Accountability Bill

The word accountable as defined in the Oxford Dictionary means responsible for your own decisions or actions and
expected to explain them when you are asked. Accountability is the sine qua non of democracy.

Author Name:   swatisehgal3

Download PDF
Download Here

frompdftodoc.com OPEN

The word accountable as de ned in the Oxford Dictionary means responsible for
your own decisions or actions and expected to explain them when you are asked.
Accountability is the sine qua non of democracy.

Judicial Accountability Bill

The word ‘accountable’ as defined in the Oxford Dictionary means ‘responsible for your own
decisions or actions and expected to explain them when you are asked’. Accountability is the sine
qua non of democracy. No public institution or public functionary is exempt from accountability
although the manner of enforcing accountability may vary depending upon the nature of the office
and the functions discharged by the office holder. The judiciary, an essential wing of the State, is also
accountable. Judicial accountability, however, is not on the same plane as the accountability of the
executive or the legislature or any other public institution. The judicial system deals with the
administration of justice through the agency of courts. Judges are the human stuff which presides
over the courts. They are not merely visible symbols of courts; they are actually their representatives
in flesh and blood. The manners in which judges discharge their duties determine the image of
courts and the credibility of judicial system itself. In India from time immemorial judges have been
held in high esteem.

The independence and impartiality of the judiciary is one of the hallmarks of the democratic system
of the government. Only an impartial and independent judiciary can protect the rights of the
individual and can provide equal justice without fear and favor. The constitution of India provides
many privileges to maintain the independence of judiciary. But of late, even here things are getting
increasingly disturbing and one is unfortunately no more in a position to say that all is well with the
the guardian of our constitution. Judicial accountability is a facet of judicial independence and Top
recently, the judiciary has been greatly in the news, but for all the wrong reasons. A string of judicial
www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1951/Judicial-Accountability-Bill.html 1/6
10/2/2019 Judicial Accountability Bill
scandals have erupted in the recent judiciary.

A need definitely is there to make judiciary accountable, as derogation of values in judiciary is far
more dangerous than in any other wing of the government. The Ghaziabad district court Provident
fund scam, the 15 lakh cash-at-judges-door scam of Chandigarh, and the Justice Soumitra Sen case of
Calcutta. Some of these have arisen due to the lack of transparency in the selection and appointment
of judges. In many cases, persons of doubtful integrity come to be appointed and confirmed through
a totally secretive, ad hoc, arbitrary and non-transparent process of selection and appointment
through a Collegiums’ of judges of the High Court and the Supreme Court.

Judicial accountability and answerability of the judges is not a new concept. Several countries in their
constitutions have already provided for ensuring accountability of judiciary. Thus, there is no
difficulty in accepting the principle that in a society based on the rule of law and democratic
principles of governance, every power holder is, in the final analysis, accountable to the people.
There is no reason why the judiciary should not be accountable to the community for due
performance of the functions vested in it. Power is given on trust and judicial power is no exception.
But at the same time it must be developed consistent with the principles of judicial independence.

The challenge, however, is to determine how the judiciary can be held to account, consistent with the
principle of judicial independence. There is a need to achieve the right balance between autonomy in
decision making and independence from external forces on the one hand and accountability to the
community on the other hand. Regular election of judges or their recall by popular vote, is neither
required nor recommended. Further enforcement of judicial accountability should be done by the
judiciary itself. Any external effort would be dangerous for the judiciary's independence.
Impeachment as has been seen does not work.

The Union Cabinet on December 13, 2011 cleared the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010
as part of its efforts to bring before Parliament a series of Bills to tackle graft in the country. Aimed
primarily at cleansing the judicial system of India, the Bill's key objectives, as enunciated in its
introductory text, includes a code of judicial standards and accountability of judges, establishment of
credible and expedient mechanisms for investigations into individual complaints for misbehavior or
incapacity of the judges of either the Supreme Court or the High Court, regulating the procedures for
such investigations as well as presentation of an address by Parliament to the President in relation to
proceedings for removal of judges.

According to the proposed Bill, all judges of the Indian judiciary are expected to declare their assets
and liabilities to the requisite authority which can be reproduced as and when investigations are
necessary on charges of assets disproportionate to known sources of income.

The Bill also lays down specific judicial standards for judges, including the cases involving relatives
and family members not to be decided by the judges related to them. It refrains the judges from
offering political views on any subject matter to be specifically decided by them and debars them
from hearing cases involving organizations, societies, trusts etc. in which his family
members/relatives etc. have a stake.

One of the major highlights of the Bill is the establishment of the National Judicial Oversight
Committee, the Complaints Scrutiny Panel and an Investigation Committee. While the Investigation
Committee as the name suggests has the responsibility to inquire into charges of misbehavior or
incapacity of the judges, it is the composition of Oversight Committee that merits serious attention.
One of the foundational principles of liberal democracy is the need to maintain distance between the
judiciary and the executive i.e. the judiciary in its decision making process ought to follow the rule
and arrive at a decision on purely reasonable and logical grounds and any political pressure from the
executive must be resisted and rejected at all costs.

The rot which has set in certain sections of the judiciary is a result of arriving at judicial decisions on
grounds extraneous to the cogent process of decision making. It is herein that the Oversight
Committee steps in to ensure that the judges dutifully perform their requisite functions and avoid
what the Bill terms as "misbehavior" or incapacity. The Oversight Committee will consist of a retired
Chief Justice of India as the Chairperson, a judge of the Supreme Court nominated by the sitting
Chief Justice of India, a Chief Justice of the High Court, the Attorney General for India, and an eminent
person appointed by the President.
Top

Considering the fact that in the past allegations have been made against even the senior most judges
www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1951/Judicial-Accountability-Bill.html 2/6
10/2/2019 Judicial Accountability Bill
Considering the fact that in the past allegations have been made against even the senior most judges
of the Supreme Courts, it is necessary to appreciate that to decide on matters involving previous
colleagues does have the potential of a bias. To ensure this, it is necessary to include members from
outside the judiciary, especially those with strong legal credentials. These could include law
professors, social activists with a "substantive understanding of the law", corporate lawyers etc. This
will achieve twin objectives i.e. (a) deflate the widely held opinion, especially by certain senior lawyers
of the Bar, that the higher judiciary often has "vested interests" and therefore cannot be expected to
take a strong stance against corruption, nepotism, misbehavior etc, (b) will help to restore a much
needed semblance of transparency in the public perception that the judiciary is open to other
members enquiring into their misdeeds if any and has nothing to hide.

The biggest fear that has been expressed that there will be unnecessary interference in the workings
of the judiciary is unfounded and unsubstantiated by any logical reasoning. It will in the longer run
improve the public understanding of certain pertinent issues which have plagued the judiciary and
will prevent such occurrences in the future. The judiciary which is still revered by many as credible,
fair, sensitive and an institution of last resort will get a much needed respite.

The Scrutiny Committee empowered with the powers of initial investigation has the authority to
screen out frivolous or vexatious complaints. As a penalty measure, it has also ensured a rigorous
imprisonment of up to 5 years and a fine up to five lakhs of rupees. Keeping in consideration the
presence of motivated interests to defame the judiciary, it is indeed a commendable provision,
though the penalty measures appear to be a trifle too harsh. With respect to the motion to remove
judges, it can be introduced in Parliament by the Members of Parliament. If the notice is admitted, it
can be referred to the Oversight Committee for enquiry.

With regard to the High Courts, it is necessary that the proposed changes as stated above in the
Oversight Committee be ensured since corruption in the High Courts is often rampant and in some
cases it is institutionalised and considered the norm.

The Judicial Accountability Bill, looked at in a holistic manner, is indeed a step ahead to restore some
of the fundamental values in the judicial bodies of the government i.e. integrity of the judges,
transparency, independence of judiciary and decision making derived from reasoned analysis at all
levels of the judicial architecture in the country.

The author can be reached at: swatisehgal3@legalservicesindia.com

This article has been Awarded

Certificate of Excellence for
Original Legal Research work by
our Penal of Judges

ISBN No: 978-81-928510-1-3

Print this Article

Author Bio:   I am Law Graduate from Amity Law School, Noida. Currently working as Legal ssociate
with MAP Corporate Legal.

Email:   swatisehgal3@legalservicesindia.com Website:   http://www.legalserviceindia.com
Views:  3093
Comments  :  

How To Submit Your Article:

Top

www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1951/Judicial-Accountability-Bill.html 3/6
10/2/2019 Judicial Accountability Bill

Follow the Procedure Below To Submit Your Articles

Submit your Article by using our online form Click here
Note* we only accept Original Articles, we will not accept Articles Already Published
in other websites.
For Further Details Contact: editor@legalserviceindia.com

File Your Copyright - Right Now!

Online Copyright Registration in India

Call us at: 9891244487 / or email at: admin@legalserviceindia.com

File Divorce in Delhi - Right Now!

File Your Mutual Divorce -
Call us Right Now at: 9650499965 / or email at: tapsash@gmail.com

Lawyers in India - Search By City

Delhi Mumbai Kolkata Chennai

Chandigarh Pune Siliguri Chandigarh
Allahabad Nagpur Durgapur Hyderabad
Lucknow Nashik Janjgir Coimbatore
Noida Ahmedabad Jaipur Eluru
Gurgaon Surat Ludhiana Belgaum
Faridabad Indore Dimapur Cochin
Jalandhar Agra Guwahati Rajkot
Vapi Jalgaon Amritsar Jodhpur

Top

www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1951/Judicial-Accountability-Bill.html 4/6
10/2/2019 Judicial Accountability Bill

344 Comments Sort by Oldest

Add a comment...

Kartik Bagchi
The Union Cabinet is all poised to table an amendment to the marriage laws, which, in the event of a
divorce, would give the wife an equal share of not only the property acquired by the husband during or
before the marriage, but also his inherited or inheritable property. This proposed amendment is already
creating a furore.
Like · Reply · 18 · 6y

Mallikarjuna Sharma
That is quite insane proposal. Self-acquired property can be disposed of at will - is the established
law and this contradicts it. Even if elements of social or public interest are there, those should not
totally drown the established law. The maintenance provisions should be made more stringent and
adequate by reform but not such divesting of property for a song.
Like · Reply · 10 · 2y

Veeraswami Panjan
Mallikarjuna Sharma It is not divesting of property for a song Sharmaji, when two join in wedlock,
they flurish and family become established. This society was men dominated, is being men
dominated and I feel bad and continue to be men dominated. Hence, to safeguard the interest of
women folk who have to face so many illtreatment are protected through this historic measure.
Why not we support.
Like · Reply · 3 · 1y

Lakshmirajyam Jonnalagadda
Execute documents of all the property in the name of your beloved wife and then you will face the
music. men are the strong enemeies of the men and idiotically they see cruelity in men and the
regular and continuous female mess in houses which lead to the disastrous state of affairs for the
men folk and it has become a regular irony and more than 90% of women who seek divorce recite
the stupid stanza that their live is full of thorns and many impedements espeically after marriage as
if their life at their parental houses ran on golden carpet. Present day should be taken into
consideration to ascertain present day oproblems and the days of great great grand fathers or the
inception times of this Kali Yuga.
Like · Reply · 6 · 1y

Show 3 more replies in this thread

Tukaram Gaude
hi
Like · Reply · 5 · 6y

Jenny Kay
I am very happy today with my family. My name is rose sarah living in USA, My husband left me for
a good 3 years now, and i love him so much, i have been looking for a way to get him back since
then. i have tried many options but he did not come back, until i met a friend that darted me to
Dr.Jude a spell caster, who helped me to bring back my husband after 2 weeks. Me and my
husband are living happily together today, That man is great, you can contact him via email
liberationlovespell@gmail. com… Now i will advice any serious persons that found themselves in
this kind of problem to contact him now a fast solution without steress.. He always hello, now i call
him my father. contact him now he is always online email (liberationlovespell@gmail. com) or Top
contact him on his whatsapp mobile line +2348034062173

www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1951/Judicial-Accountability-Bill.html 5/6
10/2/2019 Judicial Accountability Bill
Like · Reply · 1 · 11w

Brijesh Mithaulia
Jenny Kay : Thank you Rose Sarah. I am Brijesh Kumar Mithaulia from India. I am in similar
situation today, only genders have changed. I have contacted father Dr Jude and has asked me for
some details. Will send him shortly.
Like · Reply · 10w

Brijesh Mithaulia
Its such a coincidence that I found your blog.
Like · Reply · 1 · 10w

Show 1 more reply in this thread

Angel Vijayvidya
Can anyone help me.i am suffering from dowry harassment.i am mentally have depressed from my
husband.
Like · Reply · 3 · 6y

Nilesh Pawar
Go to Police Station and file Section 498A of IPC
if getting Physical harrasment you can file Domestice Violence in the appropriate Court and get
Protection from Husand & relatives of husband
Like · Reply · 12 · 3y

Abhinav Vishnu
What's ur actual problem, u r not mentioned facts here
Like · Reply · 3 · 2y

Abhinav Vishnu
Is it belongs to dowry ,or, cruelty,or , harrassment, domestic violence,or ,adultry,or, desertion, what
is ur actual problem
Like · Reply · 3 · 2y

Show 10 more replies in this thread

Anita Rao
India being democratic country and having protective laws for women , its high time to have special courts
for women to try cases exclusively women cases only...........
Like · Reply · 20 · 6y

Sharon Chatterjee
woman courts is no solution it fact we need capable judges who are not appointed politically
Like · Reply · 32 · 4y

A Singh

Top

www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1951/Judicial-Accountability-Bill.html 6/6