Judicial Accountability Bill gets cabinet nod: Charges against judges to be taken more seriously?

With the instances of judicial corruption increasing in recent times, the Union Cabinet has given its nod to the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010 (Bill). This should come as a welcome development for the anti-corruption brigade. The new Bill seeks to replace the 42 year old Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 which lays down judicial standards, establishes a mechanism for dealing with complaints of misbehavior or incapacity of a judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court and makes provisions for declaration of assets and liability by judges. The previous Act did not make it mandatory for judges to declare their personal assets. This time round, the Bill will have a Committee comprising of 5 members and will be headed by a retired Chief Justice of India, appointed by the President, and have a serving Judge of the Supreme Court and a serving High Court Judge, both nominated by the Chief Justice of India, the Attorney-General and an eminent person nominated by the President.

Judicial Accountability Bill gets cabinet nod: Charges against judges to be taken more seriously? barandbench.com Tue, Oct 12, 2010