New bill on judicial standards unlikely soon

A proposal which seeks to change the present system of probing complaints of misbehaviour and incapacity against Supreme Court and high court judges needs "further consultation", the government said today, indicating a bill in this regard may not come in the immediate future.
Referring to the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill moved by the erstwhile UPA government, Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda informed the Lok Sabha that the bill had lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
"Matter requires further consultation with various stakeholders," he said in a written reply.
Though the bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in March, 2012, it had undergone changes in the Rajya Sabha following protests by the judiciary and jurists who had questioned some of its provisions.

The lapsed bill provided for a comprehensive mechanism for handling complaints made by citizens on grounds of alleged misbehaviour and incapacity against judges of the Supreme Court and high courts. It also provided for a mechanism to take action against those found guilty after investigation. It also laid down judicial standards and made it incumbent on the judges to declare their assets and liabilities.
Gowda pointed out that at present, complaints against judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts are dealt with as per the 'in house mechanism'.

According to the mechanism, the Chief Justice of India is competent to receive complaints against the conduct of the judges of the apex court. Similar powers are vested with chief justices of high courts.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the judiciary should have an internal mechanism of "self- assessment" and should be "perfect".
"We (the political class) are lucky that people watch us, assess us and rip us apart. You (judiciary) are not as lucky.
"If you order a person to death, he also comes out and says that he believes in the judiciary... When there is little scope for criticism, the need of the hour is to develop an internal mechanism for self-assessment where the government and the politicians have no role," Modi had said.