Out of 769 judges in India’s 25 High Courts, only 95 (12.35%) have disclosed their assets and liabilities on official websites.
The issue gained attention after partially burnt currency notes were found at the residence of High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma.
All 33 Supreme Court judges agreed on April 1 to make their asset declarations public on the top court’s official website.
Kerala High Court leads with 41 of 44 judges (93.18%) disclosing assets, followed by Himachal Pradesh High Court with 11 of 12 judges (91.66%).
Some courts have low disclosure rates, like Chhattisgarh High Court (1 of 16 judges) and Madras High Court (5 of 65 judges).
Delhi High Court’s disclosure rate dropped from 29 of 35 judges in 2018 to just 7 of 38 currently, despite past disclosures from former judges.
Out of 33 Supreme Court judges, 30 (including the Chief Justice of India) have submitted asset declarations; all will be made public soon.
A 2023 Parliamentary Standing Committee report urged mandatory annual asset declarations for all High Court and Supreme Court judges.
The report emphasized that public officials, including judges, should disclose assets as they receive salaries from public funds.
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