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NEW DELHI, Aug. 3 -- India's ruling United Progressive Alliance government Monday received a major jolt when it was compelled to withdraw a bill which sought not to publicly disclose the assets of the country's judges, following a strong protest from the opposition in the Upper House of Parliament. "The Judges (Declaration of Assets and Liabilities) Act, 2009" makes it mandatory for High Court and Supreme Court judges to disclose their assets only to the President every year, but not in public. The bill was opposed by the opposition parties in view of a violation of the right to equality, as it would give the judges an exclusive privilege of not disclosing their assets to the public for ever as against the laws which make it mandatory for all public office holders to disclose assets. "There cannot be two laws. On the one hand you ask people contesting elections to declare their assets and on the other hand you allow judges (those who are holding public office) not to make their assets public," opposition BJP's leader of Rajya Sabha, or Upper House of Parliament, Arun Jaitley told the Parliament. The Left parties also opposed the bill, saying they would stall the bill if introduced. However, defending the government's stand, Indian Law Minister Veerapa Moily said even if the bill was passed, the assets of the country's judges will be monitored by an internal mechanism which has been created by the Supreme Court. "There is no law, whatsoever that judges will have to declare their assets as a liability. There is an internal mechanism created by the Supreme Court in their resolution. The first resolution is on the values of the judicial system and next on the declaration of the assets," Moily told the Parliament. He was later forced to withdraw the bill and the Parliament was also adjourned following the protest. |
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