On Thursday (1st April), all Judges of the Supreme Court unanimously agreed to publicly make available the declaration of their assets.
The apex court reportedly decided to boost public confidence in the Judiciary and promote transparency. The decision was taken during a full-court meeting held on Thursday.
The Judges decided to disclose their assets to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and the declarations would be uploaded on the official website of the Supreme Court.
#BREAKING In a full court meeting held on April 1, supreme court Judges decide that they shall disclose their statement of assets, which will be stated on the Supreme Court Website. The technicalities are being looked at #SupremeCourt pic.twitter.com/XnJwhd2knB
— Bar and Bench (@barandbench) April 3, 2025
The specifics of the matter will be finalised in due course of time. The development comes weeks after a large pile of unaccounted currency notes was recovered from the residence of Delhi High Court Judge Yahwant Varma.
It must be mentioned that all Judges of the Supreme Court have declared their assets, but they are not available for public access.
The Background of the Controversy
On 21st March, reports emerged that Delhi Fire Services found a pile of cash at Delhi High Court Judge Yashwant Varma’s official residence during a firefighting operation. Reports further suggested that Justice Varma was not at his residence at the time, and an internal inquiry was initiated by the Supreme Court of India. Justice Varma also faced transfer to Allahabad High Court.
However, within 24 hours, the Supreme Court issued a clarification that the collegium’s decision to transfer Justice Varma was not linked to the alleged incident. However, an internal inquiry was confirmed.
Notably, Delhi Fire Services (DFS) ‘denied’ finding any cash during the firefighting operation. Later, DFS chief Atul Garg stated that he had never told any media outlet that firefighters did not find cash at the scene.
When asked why his name was being quoted in the reports, Garg replied, “I don’t know why,” adding that he had already sent a clarification to the media outlets carrying the statement.
The current issue has reignited the discussion over declaring assets by judges, which is currently only optional as per the Supreme Court’s resolution from 1997.
Judges in the Indian judiciary system are required to declare their assets. But there is a catch. It is done internally to the Chief Justice of India, and these asset details are available to the public only on a voluntary basis. That means, if a judge does not want the people of India to know about his or her assets, it is at their discretion.
The practice of internal declaration was established by a 1997 Supreme Court resolution. Public disclosure is not mandatory, which has been reflected by the court’s emphasis on privacy under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005. The stance has also been upheld in several key rulings, including in 2019, that allow disclosure only if a larger public interest is demonstrated.
