In A fresh embarrassment to the judiciary, the top-level Supreme Court panel responsible for appointment of judges has declined to accept three of the eight names recommended by the Delhi High Court (HC) as judges.

Recent cases underline the need for independent Constitutional bodies for the appointment of judges as well as for investigating complaints against them.

The Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) has sought the support of political parties for the impeachment of Justice Soumitra Sen, judge of the Calcutta High Court, as recommended by the Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan, in his letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

An NGO today advocated setting up of an independent constitutional body for appointment of judges and investigating complaints against them to promote transparency in the functioning of judiciary.

In a boost to judicial accountability, the Central Information Commission (CIC) on Tuesday rejected the Supreme Court’s claim that the Chief Justice of India was beyond the purview of RTI.

Less than a fortnight after the Supreme Court recommended the transfer of Justice R Mishra in connection with the Uttar Pradesh provident fund scam, he will be sworn in as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) K G Balakrishnan appealed to the members of legal fraternity to cooperate in betterment of the judicial system in the country.

THE DELHI High Court on Monday stayed an order of the Central Information Commission ( CIC), asking the Supreme Court's registry to give information to an RTI applicant on whether apex court judges have declared their assets to the Chief Justice of India ( CJI).

PRIME Minister Manmohan Singh obviously feels deeply about corruption in government and especially in the judiciary. He spoke on it publicly twice within five months; on both occasions, in the presence of the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Justice K.G. Balakrishnan. On April 19, he said: “Corruption is another challenge that we face both in the government and the judiciary.”

A Supreme Court Bench provided a "law" to protect Judges from criminal prosecution by an assertion of power that did not vest in it.

The number and type of cases the Supreme Court accepts rather than having too few judges causes the backlog of cases.

Address of the Legal and Real Chief Justice of the Pakistan Supreme Court, Mr. Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, to the New York City Bar Association

With judiciary reeling under the embarrassment of allegations of corruption facing several of its members, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday called for "introspection" on judicial appointments.

The recent disclosure that the Chief Justice of India had recommended the impeachment of a Calcutta High Court judge for misappropriation of funds, along with earlier allegations surrounding the Ghaziabad provident fund case and money delivered at the residence of a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, have highlighted the urgent need for a legal and transparent method for investigating misconduct of judges of superior courts.

UP police has identified 34 sitting judges, including one in the Supreme Court, as among those allegedly involved in the embezzlement of provident funds of class IV employees of Ghaziabad court. This development, which extends the crisis of credibility facing institutions to the judiciary as well, could become the jolt for it to consider whether to persist with the immunity that judges enjoy at present.

After recommending impeachment of Calcutta high court judge Soumitra Sen, Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan dropped another bombshell on Tuesday by allowing CBI to question two judges of the Punjab and Haryana HC.

The possibility of an impeachment motion against a Calcutta high court judge, Soumitra Sen, comes close on the heels of a slew of corruption charges against the judiciary.

A Supreme Court bench on Tuesday said it was time to stem the rot that seems to have crept into the judicial system. “The time has come because people have started categorising some judges as very honest despite it being the foremost qualification of any judge. It is the system.

The much respected judiciary is caught on the backfoot. Suddenly, charges and accusations of corruption against judges, always talked in hushed tones in court corridors, are flying thick and fast — all in the open. Weighed down by the gravity and the spread — from Kolkata to Punjab — of the accusations and perturbed by the southward trend of the judicial index in public, the Supreme Court on Tuesday conceded, “The rot has set in.”

Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court will not resign, his lawyer Subhas Bhattacharya said here on Tuesday.

The most crucial attribute of democracy is its rule of law. An independent and impartial judiciary has the responsibility to ensure that authority governs through the rule of law.

If Calcutta High Court judge Soumitra Sen is impeached, it will be an unprecedented event as the previous impeachment of Justice V Ramaswamy in 1991 failed to pass muster in the Lok Sabha as the then Narasimha Rao government failed to take a position on the issue.

Unprecedented as it is, Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan's recommendation to the government for the removal of Calcutta High Court judge Soumitra Sen has exposed a legal lacuna. For, Judges (Inquiry) Act 1968 does not
envisage a contingency where the judiciary approaches the executive for the removal of a judge; the impeachment process provided by it is entirely in the domain of Parliament.

The Centre will move an impeachment motion against Calcutta High Court judge Soumitra Sen on a recommendation by Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan seeking his dismissal for corrupt practices which have brought disrepute to the judiciary.

For only the second time in the history of India’s higher judiciary, the Chief Justice of India has recommended that a judge be removed from “service”.

The Supreme Court on Monday posted for hearing in an open court on July 17 a petition seeking a CBI probe into what is called the “Ghaziabad judges scam”.

Open court hearing Ghaziabad PF in scam case ; Hindustan Times; July 15,2008

The supreme court on Monday reached a “unanimous” agreement that the infamous UP provident fund scam, unearthed from a Ghaziabad court recently allegedly involving several sitting and retired judges, needed to be probed thoroughly.

The Chief Justice of India should immediately order a high-level probe by a competent investigative agency to examine the truthfulness of charges against 36 judges, alleged to have financially benefited in the Ghaziabad multi-crore provident fund scam, top jurists of the country have said.

In a development unprecedented in the country’s judicial history, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), the government’s anti-corruption watchdog, has forwarded a set of complaints with allegations of corruption and misconduct against former Chief Justice of India YK Sabharwal to the government for further action.

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to Solicitor-General G.E. Vahanvati to render assistance in a petition seeking a CBI probe into what is called the “Ghaziabad judges’ scam” allegedly involving 26 judges (one apex court judge, seven High Court judges, six retired High Court judges, 10 serving district judges and two retired district judges).

Faced with accusations having the potential to unhinge the traditional public perception of the judiciary's clean image, the SC on Monday decided to examine the possible mode of probe into the Rs 23 crore illegal PF withdrawal scam allegedly involving 23 judges, including some from the HCs and one from the apex court.

The Supreme Court today agreed to take a call on whether to start a judicial probe against 14 current and former apex court and high court judges in a scam running into crores.

In an attempt to settle the controversy surrounding the implementation of Right to Information Act in the judiciary, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed Supreme Court officials and the Department of Personnel and Training to present their views on the matter.

In an unprecedented move, Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan has agreed to subject 12 judges of higher judiciary to interrogation in Rs seven crore Ghaziabad District Courts Treasury Scam.

There are several instances where the Indian judicial establishment has tried to dilute the applicability of RTI to the courts and the judicial system. No matter what the issue, the penultimate interpretation lies with the courts, and RTI is no exception.

THE FIGHT for citizens' right to know about the details of judges' wealth, appointments and complaints of misconduct against them reached the Supreme Court on Tuesday with a petition demanding implementation of the Right to Information Act in the judiciary.

I am a public servant," declared Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishanan settling the dust that had arisen over whether or not judges of the Supreme Court and high courts were public servants or not.

CORRUPTION is another challenge we face both in the government and the judiciary”: Prime Minister in his address
to Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts (April 19, 2008)

TWO RECENT judgements of the Supreme Court on judicial activism and PILs have expectedly generated a spirited controversy within the Supreme Court and outside about the scope and limits of the court's jurisdiction in PILs and about judicial activism in general.