Justice Kumar sent the statement to Registrar General of the High Court on Monday with a comment that it can also be made public, High Court sources said on Tuesday.
"In recent months, there has been considerable anxiety on account of allegation of corruption in the higher judiciary. The judiciary is the watchdog of the rights of citizens and these instances have once again raised the question of who will watch the watchdog," he said in a conference on deterioration of moral values in society.
An advocate, who has moved the Supreme Court for a probe into the assets of close relatives of K G Balakrishnan, was on Friday allowed by the Supreme Court to submit additional documents related to the property acquired by them after he had become the Chief Justice of India.
The Supreme Court on Friday asked Attorney General G E Vahanvati to apprise it about the status of a complaint filed in May last year against former chief justice of India and chairman of the National Human Rights Commission K G Balakrishnan, seeking a probe by the CBI into his assets. "What is the status of the complaint forwarded to the ministry of home affairs," a bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia sought to know.
The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan has sought the services of government's technologically advanced surveying and mapping agency to verify allegations of land grabbing against Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran whose elevation to the apex court has been put on hold.Meanwhile, the Advocates Association of Bangalore appealed to the Chief Justice of India.
Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan on Monday said the Supreme Court collegium made a mistake in recommending the name of Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran for appointment to the apex court and maintained that any judge found to have trespassed any land is not fit to be elevated.
Insisting on his right to speak on the behalf of judges, Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan on Monday said that the remarks of a Karnataka High Court judge cannot bring 'embarrassment' to the judiciary. "How can the remarks of a single judge cause embarrassment? It (judiciary) is a big institution," he said. He was asked whether the judiciary does not feel embarrassed over the remarks of Justice Shailendra Kumar, who had questioned his authority, was an embarassment.
Amidst the raging clamour for disclosure of assets by judges, Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan on Friday made it clear that it was up to the judges to make public their wealth and it was not an issue of his willingness. The CJI said that the apex court judges would be meeting to discuss the issue but did not elaborate on when it would take place.
A fresh petition seeking a probe into alleged amassing of wealth by relatives of former chief justice of India and National Human Rights Commission Chairman K G Balakrishnan has been posted for Friday by a special judge.An earlier petition filed by George Vattukulam, state president of Kerala Malayala Vedi (forum), came up before the court on Friday, which rejected it on technical grounds as there was no spare copy of the petition.
The guidelines issued by the top court on February 11, 2010 included setting up barbed wire fencing around the well during construction, using a steel plate covers fixed with bolts over the well assembly and filling up of borewells from the bottom to the ground level among others.
The four names cleared by the government are justices Aniruddha Bose, A S Bopanna, B R Gavai and Surya Kant.
Former Chief Justice of India Justice Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu was on Tuesday selected as the next Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission.
The bench was informed by advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation and others, that the Centre has filed an affidavit saying it wants to appoint another commission to examine the issue.
The Centre has turned down an NGO's plea for a Presidential Reference for removal of National Human Rights Commission chairperson K G Balakrishnan over allegations of misconduct during his tenure as Chief Justice and judge of the Supreme Court.
The decision to make it public was taken last week after CJI K G Balakrishnan and other judges finalised the details of their assets during the Dusshera and Diwali festivals with some of them availing the services of professional chartered accountants for the purpose.
With Supreme Court moving an appeal in the Delhi high court against the CIC order on making assets of its judges public, the Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan has made it clear that the judges 'are not bound to disclose' their wealth. "There is no statute or law which insists that the judges or the superior courts should submit declaration of their assets. Even then, our judges are submitting the declaration of assets to the Chief Justice," the CJI said.
Former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju, currently chairman of Press Council of India, on Monday stirred a controversy by alleging that three ex-Chief Justices of India had compromised in giving extension to an additional judge of Madras high court at the instance of the United Progressive Alliance government in the wake of pressure from one of its allies, apparently Dravida Munnetra Kazahagham.
There were mixed reactions from parties to Markandey Katju's charge that three ex-chief justices of India had compromised in giving extension and elevation to an additional judge of Madras high court at UPA government's instance, with some including All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam demanding a probe while others questioned the timing of his disclosure.