Indian judiciary not corrupt, says Govt

The government said it did not agree with a report that a majority of people think Indian judicial system is corrupt

The government said it did not agree with a corruption watchdog’s report that a majority of people think Indian judicial system is corrupt, Lok Sabha was informed.

In a written reply, the Minister of Law and Justice H R Bhardwaj said the government ‘does not agree with the perception’ of Transparency Internationale’s Global Corruption Report 2007 which says 77 per cent of the general public has stated that the Indian judicial system is ‘corrupt’.

The minister said government has already introduced Judges Inquiry Bill 2006 in Lok Sabha which seeks to empower a judicial forum to deal with the complaints against judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts.

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As far as district courts are concerned, the respective high courts are empowered to take cognizance of the complaints against the members of the lower judiciary, he said.

In another reply, the minister said there was no proposal from the Uttar Pradesh state government to set up Meerut-Bareilly Bench of the Allahabad High Court.

Similarly, no proposal has been received from Andhra Pradesh state government to set up a High Court Bench in Vijayawada.

But in case of Gujarat, though state government had proposed setting up benches in Surat and Rajkot, the proposal was turned down by the Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court, the minister said.