Judges? conduct to be under scanner

The Govt okays amendment to create the NJC that can probe complaints against judges, reports Aloke Tikku.

The government on Thursday approved an amendment to create the National Judicial Council that can investigate complaints against judges of the Supreme Court and high courts.

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The amendment also seeks to introduce a code of ethics for the judiciary.

The council has also been empowered to impose what the proposed law calls, “minor measures”, if the allegations levelled against the judge are substantiated during the inquiry. Asking the judge to put in his papers is one of them.

The proposed council would not cover the Chief Justice of India; he would head this body. There would be four other members, all judges. Two senior-most judges of the Supreme Court and two chief justices of high courts would be members of the council that would hear complaints against high court judges; four SC judges in order of seniority would be the members when it has to hear a complaint against a SC judge.

Not surprisingly, finance minister P Chidambaram said the proposed Bill was expected to generate a debate on the subject and was likely to be extensively studied by the parliamentary standing committee before the two Houses of Parliament get to consider the provisions of the amendment to the Judges (Inquiry) Act of 1968.

This committee has to submit its report to Lok Sabha Speaker or Rajya Sabha chairman, depending on the House that initiated the motion. But impeachment was the only recourse available if the charges were found to be true.

Chidambaram clarified that judges of lower courts would not be covered by this draft legislation; the lower courts come under the administrative jurisdiction of the high court of the state concerned.

Email: atikku@hindustantimes.com