Senior Advocate Saurabh Kirpal today suggested that the Supreme Court should publish the in-house report on the inquiry into allegations of misconduct against a judge, as is done in the subordinate judiciary.
Kirpal was responding to a question relating to the disciplinary and in-house proceedings initiated in the higher judiciary; he said: "In cases of inquiry, reports are released in cases of district judges. In the lower judiciary, whenever this happens, the District Judge will change it. If it works for the District Judge, why can't it work for the members of the higher judiciary?"
While advocating for a full disclosure of the inquiry report in public for scrutiny, he vouched for a balance to ensure that the person against whom the allegation is made doesn't face stigma as a result of the disclosure. Addressing this point, he stated that our Courts are equipped to strike a balance, as it has been doing so in the case of the subordinate judiciary.
"There has to be a balance, undoubtedly, because we must remember that when an inquiry is going on, that judge is still a sitting judge and especially [relevant] in the higher judiciary as they are still dispensing justice," he said.
Kirpal was speaking during a panel discussion at the launch of the report titled 'The Judicial Transparency Index: Assessing Disclosure of Information by the Supreme Court and the High Courts,' by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy's Justice, Access & Lowering Delays in India(JALDI).
Kirpal stated that since such inquiries are conducted after giving due adherence to the principles of natural justice, there is no reason why it can't be made public. He further questioned who Inquiry Committee is not permanent in nature.
Referring to the inquiry committee formed by the former Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna to investigate the allegation of misconduct against Justice Yashwant Varma, former judge of the Allahabad High Court, he said: "I found the Chief Justice of India formed an inquiry committee; if you google it. Some mechanism will have to be evolved to see how inquiries are conducted. So while the process of inquiry may require greater reflection, there is no reason why it should not be put out in the public domain unredacted, in its complete form, and then it can be subjected to public scrutiny."
Supreme Court Judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, who delivered the keynote address, advocated the disclosure of reasons of Collegium decisions.