New Delhi: Chief Justice of India K G
Balakrishnan and 20 other judges of the Supreme Court on Monday
made public their assets on www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in on Monday evening.
The assets of Justice B N Agrawal, who retired on
October 15, were also declared on the website on his special
request, the apex court website said.
"The above declaration of assets is purely on
voluntary basis," the website said.
However, the details of the assets of Justice H S Bedi
were not available.
The Supreme Court judges made their assets public
exactly two months after the Delhi High Court on September 2
held that the office of the CJI falls under the RTI Act and
disclosure of assets of the apex court judges to him could be
made public.
While the matter was pending before a Single Judge
Bench, the Supreme Court judges had agreed to voluntarily
declare their assets on the official website.
The CJI on August 28 had said that under the changed
circumstances, all the judges, in a unanimous decision have
agreed to disclose their assets.
"We are strictly following the May 7, 1997 resolution.
The only thing is that we are not disclosing it to the public.
Now because of the changed circumstances, we will put it on
the website," Balakrishnan had said.
He had said the disclosure would be strictly in
accordance with the 1997 resolution and the assets relating to
real estate and investments made even in the name of
dependents would be put on the website.
However, the Supreme Court Registry on October 5
challenged the verdict of the Single Bench contending that all
the information that the CJI has in his official capacity
cannot be revealed under the Right to Information Act.
The division bench headed by Delhi High Court Chief
Justice A P Shah has fixed November 12 and 13 to hear the
appeal.
CJI worth Rs 18 lakhThe assets declared by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan were around Rs.18 lakhs, including his two-bedroom flat in Ernakulam worth Rs.5.75 lakh, his vacant residential plot in Faridabad measuring 444.44 sq yard valued at 4.50 lakh, and his native house in Thrikkakara South village in Kerala.
The CJI also declared other landed properties in Kerala, worth Rs.3.5 lakh and Rs.4.33 lakh. He said his wife has gold jewellery weighing 20 sovereigns and an old Santro car of 2000. He said he has no investment in shares or fixed deposits.
The apex court's second senior most judge, Justice S.H. Kapadia, appeared to be richer than the CJI.
Justice Kapadia put the value of his declared assets at over Rs.48 lakh. The declared assets include flats, buildings, shares, mutual funds, fixed deposits, provident funds. He said he owned no vehicle.
The third senior most judge, Justice Tarun Chatterjee, declared cash worth around Rs.3 lakh, but he said that he has other properties like vehicles, gold jewellery of his wife and some ancestral property in Kolkata. Justice Chatterjee's vehicles include a Chevrolet Tavera and a Honda Seil.
The court's fourth senor most judge, Justice Altamas Kabir declared assets of around Rs.80 lakh, including ancestral property, besides LIC policies and saving accounts.
The fifth senior most judge, Justice R.V. Raveendran, gave a detailed account of his assets running into five pages with the exact number of his shares, debentures etc.
According to the declaration, he owns shares in about 60 companies, including Reliance Group firms belonging to both Mukesh and Anil Ambani. He is also hearing a case on gas supply disputes between the firms of the two Ambani brothers and the government.
The only sitting judge who could not declare his assets along with others was Justice H.S. Bedi.
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