Keep judiciary out: Justice Reddy

Lokpal bill: Law commission chief also against inclusion of PM

He said that the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill has already been introduced in Parliament which would take care of alleged corruption in the judiciary. “I think it is better to keep judiciary outside the purview. In fact Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill is now under active consideration. It is already in public domain. With some refinements, it can take care of judiciary,” Justice Reddy said.

Talking to Deccan Herald, he said he concurred with the views expressed by two former Chief Justice of India — J  S Verma and M N Venkatchalia — for keeping the judiciary beyond the scope of the Lokpal.

Giving his personal opinion, Justice Reddy said there should be a balance between the independence of judiciary and accountability of judges. “The independence of judiciary should not be unduly impaired. At the same time, the accountability should be enhanced. This stage has come, we have to strike a balance between the two,” he said.

“Fear psychosis must not be there. The Judges must not always think that they are always under the scanner of some body like Lokpal which consists of so many persons,” he said. The former Chief Justice of Karnataka HC also said, “There is no guarantee that it (bringing judiciary under Lokpal) would improve the accountability.”

Civil society members like Arvind Kejariwal and Prashant Bhushan are strongly advocating for bringing the judiciary under Lokpal. On the standoff between the civil society and the government, Justice Reddy said: “It has gone to a stage which is beyond our domain.”

Justice Reddi also said that keeping prime minister within the scanner of Lokpal would not solve the problem of corruption. “It would not make much impact except some psychological feelings,” he said.