Judge’s Asset Disclosure:
The Kerala High Court topped the list with the asset declarations of 37 out of 39 judges available on its website while those of only two of 50 judges in the Karnataka High Court and five of 62 judges in the Madras High Court have been provided.
- Only 13% of High Court judges’ assets are publicly available, with Kerala, Punjab and Haryana, and Delhi High Courts contributing over 80% of the total asset declarations (Source: The Indian Express).
- Several High Courts, like Bombay, Gujarat, and Telangana, have not disclosed asset declarations, citing reasons like personal privacy and the confidential// nature of such information.
- Parliament’s Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, and Law and Justice recommended mandatory asset disclosure for judges in August 2023, but many courts have not complied, labeling the information as outside the scope of the RTI Act.
- The Supreme Court adopted a resolution for voluntary asset disclosure in 1997, and several High Courts followed in 2009, but updates have been sparse since 2018.
