Will Mumbai judges follow suit?

Though there is no official word on the issue, it is learnt that several Bombay High Court judges are not averse to disclosing their assets.

The decision of the SC judges is not binding on the judges of the high courts. Each high court will take its independent decision on the issue but the precedent set by the apex court is likely to carry weight.

While rooting for all judges to disclose their assets in the interest of transparency, senior lawyer Srihari Aney said that he did not foresee a situation like the one seen in Karnataka HC. In Karnataka, an individual judge broke the ranks by declaring his assets on his personal website. "There is great internal discipline amongst members of the bench at the Bombay HC. There will be no breaking of ranks and a decision will be taken by consensus," he said.

However, senior lawyer Aspi Chinoy said he did not expect HC judges to take a decision in a hurry. "I know it (a decision) will happen. But things take time. Things in court have their own pace," he said.

Most lawyers concur that all judges must declare their assets. "Why should any honest person be averse to it?" asked lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani. He said that earlier this month the Congress government was forced to defer introduction of a Bill in the Rajya Sabha that exempts judges from making public disclosures of income and assets. Most MPs, including some from the treasury benches, had objections to critical provisions of The Judges (Declaration of Assets and Liabilities) Bill.

The Bill seeks to make it mandatory for judges to declare their assets and liabilities to a 'competent authority' but says that such declaration would neither be made public, nor be questioned by any citizen, a provision the higher judiciary was seen as rooting for.