Judiciary has to find solution on judges' assets' issue: Moily

Judiciary has to come out with a solution on the issue of disclosure of assets by judges as no public authority can claim it is not accountable to the society, says Law Minister M Veerappa Moily.

He, however, does not want any confrontation with the judiciary, which, he says, is the "most credible" in the world.

Noting that accountability has to be "built", Moily said in an interview that the issue of corruption needed to be addressed by the judiciary and the government.

"The issue of corruption in judiciary has to be addressed by both the government and the judiciary. We have the most credible judiciary in the world. (It is) well tested. We have excellent manpower in the judiciary.

"But how to make use of it. Accountability has to be built. No public authority can say I am not accountable to the society, to the nation, to the system," he said.

On the issue of disclosure of assets, Moily said it is the judiciary which will have to come out with a solution. "They need to first think about it, because after all, ultimately there is a need...and that they are not averse to it."

As regards judicial reforms, Moily insisted that there should be convergence of views between the judiciary and administration. "Or you will be spending your time on unnecessary friction and confrontation," he said.

Moily, who till recently was the Chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commission, noted that "these are not days of confrontation with the judiciary but of understanding each other" and that "the reforms in the judiciary and the government should be seriously addressed".

He felt that judicial reforms could not be a stand alone approach, but a holistic one.

"Administrative reforms and judicial reforms should go hand in hand," said Moily, who described himself as a "man in a hurry, man in haste" as "the last man in the queue will have to feel that justice is accessible to him."

Moily said he even has plans to reform the departments under his Ministry, including those of Justice, Legislative, and Litigation.

"There is no point in the government saying 'judiciary you reform'. There is no point in judiciary saying 'government you reform'," he adds.

He said he would like to see an environment of equality under law. "Every citizen should feel that he is equal as the last man in the queue will have to feel that justice is accessible to him."

On electoral reforms, he said money power, muscle power, caste power and misuse of religion play "an ugly role and these are all antidotes to democracy. These issues need to be addressed seriously."

"The matter is already before the government. We would like to have a dialogue necessary for a national consensus. Political parties have to agree," he said.