In view of increasing transparency in the judiciary, all 33 sitting judges of the Supreme Court have unanimously agreed to publicly disclose their assets on the Supreme court's official website.

This decision was taken during a full court meeting held on April 1, where such resolution was adopted and to be applicable for future judges as well

The move comes in response to recent public outrage and demands for increased transparency in the judiciary, following the Judge Yashwant Varma cash controversy. Firefighters, while attempting to control a fire that broke out at Justice Varma’s residence in his absence, discovered a substantial amount of unaccounted cash scattered across multiple rooms.

It is important to note that by virtue of the 1997 resolution, it is mandatory for the judges to disclose their assets to the Chief Justice. However, this disclosure was heavily guarded and kept out of the RTI Act as well, with even the Supreme Court refraining from entertaining any queries regarding the same.

Fast-forwarding to 2009, where again, owing to major public as well as internal judiciary pressure, the full bench of the Supreme Court decided to permit judges to voluntarily disclose their assets. Later, on September 8, 2009, the Supreme Court clarified that while judges were encouraged to make their asset details public, it was not obligatory.

Source: NEWS