Supreme Court Judges In India Declare Assets On Website

November 2, 2009 10:13 a.m. EST

New Delhi, India (AHN) - In a first of its kind step, Supreme Court judges in India have declared their assets on the Court Website. The information includes asset details of the Chief Justice of India and 20 other Supreme Court judges. The information was published on the Supreme Court Website on Monday.

Recently there has been an uproar in India as to why the judges should be exempt from declaring their assets. People have argued that as keepers of the law, the judges should be transparent and declare their assets on a public platform.

The decision to display the assets on the website was taken last week.

A statement on the website said that all the asset details had been declared on a voluntary basis.

Manish Makhija, a Delhi High Court lawyer applauded the step. He said, "It' an excellent step. However, it shouldn't be just a one off. The judges should disclose their assets every year and lead by example."