Supreme Court puts asset details, appointment process of judges in public domain

The top court has also placed the complete process of appointments to the high courts and the Supreme Court, including the role assigned to the High Court Collegium, the role of and inputs received from the state governments, Union of India and consideration by the Supreme Court Collegium, on its website for the knowledge and awareness of the public.

New Delhi: Out of 33 judges in the Supreme Court, as many as 21 of them on Monday declared their assets, including those of their spouses, in a development that would enhance transparency in the judiciary.

Following a full court resolution of April 1, the judges declared their full assets on Monday night on the Supreme Court's website.

As per the available details, outgoing Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna has a three-bedroom DDA flat in South Delhi, a four-bedroom flat/apartment with two parking spaces in Commonwealth Games Village, Delhi, measuring 2446 sq ft super area. He has a 56 per cent share in a four-bedroom flat/apartment in Sispal Vihar, Sector 49, Gurugram, measuring 2016 sq ft super area. He also has his share in Dev Raj Khanna (HUF), part owner of house with an undivided share in land at Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh.

According to his disclosure, he has Rs 55.75 lakh in fixed deposits and bank accounts and Rs 1.06 crore in Public Provident Fund (PPF- Account opened in the year 1989). He has GPF of Rs 1,77,89,000. He has got LIC Money Back Policy with a yearly premium of Rs 29,625 and Shares of Rs 14,000.

The CJI, who is to demit office on superannuation on May 13, has no liabilities or loans on him.

The CJI-designate, Justice B R Gavai, has Rs 19.63 lakh in bank accounts and Rs 6.59 lakh in his PPF account. He has a residential house at Amravati, Maharashtra (inherited from deceased father), a residential apartment at Bandra, Mumbai, Maharashtra (self) and a residential apartment in Defence Colony, New Delhi (self).

Justice Gavai has also agricultural land at Amravati, Maharashtra, and at Kedapur and Katol, Nagpur, (inherited from deceased father).

Justice Surya Kant, who is to succeed Justice Gavai as the CJI, has a one kanal house in Sector 10, Chandigarh (jointly owned by Self/Spouse/HUF), 13 and half acres (approx) of agricultural land at Village Golpura, District Panchkula (jointly owned by self/spouse/HUF), 300 sq yards plot in Sushant Lok-1, Gurugram. (jointly owned by self/spouse/HUF), a ground floor and basement in a 285 square yard house in G.K.-I, New Delhi, (jointly owned by self/spouse).

He also declared a 192 sq yards house in Sector 18-C, Chandigarh (jointly owned by self/spouse), 250 sq yards house in DLF-II, Gurugram (self). He also has a 1/3rd share in the agricultural land measuring about 12 acres and a house at village Petwar, Dist Hisar, besides a 1/3rd share in 250 sq yards house, Urban Estate-II, Hisar (inherited from father).

Justice A S Oka, who is slated to retire on May 24, has Rs 92.35 lakh in PPF, Rs 21.76 lakh in FD, a 2022 model Maruti Baleno car and a car loan of Rs 5.1 lakh.

Justice Vikram Nath has declared a 2-BHK apartment in Noida, a bungalow in Allahabad and inherited agricultural land in Uttar Pradesh. He also has Rs 1.5 crore in investments.

Among others, Justice K V Viswanathan has made investments of Rs 120 crores and has paid tax of Rs 91 crores in the last 10 years.

Justice Viswanathan, who was directly elevated to the Supreme Court, has a builder floor house, purchased in 2010, in the Safdarjung Development Area, New Delhi. He has also a builder floor house purchased in 2014 in Safdarjung Development Area, New Delhi.

He had a joint ownership (50% share with spouse) of a builder floor house, purchased in 2016, in Gulmohar Park, New Delhi.

The 12 judges, who have yet not declared their assets, are: Justices B V Nagarathna, J K Maheshwari, Dipankar Datta, Manoj Misra, Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Aravind Kumar, Prashant Kumar Mishra, Satish Chandra Sharma, Prasanna B Varale, N Kotiswar Singh, R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi.

Justice P S Narasimha, who was a successful lawyer until he was elevated as a judge of the apex court, has a house and an apartment in Noida and has a share in inherited property in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. He invested over Rs 35 crore in mutual funds, fixed deposits with banks, sovereign gold bonds, and bank balances.

Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia owned a 2008 Maruti Zen Estilo car, presently not in use and kept in Dehradun. Justice Dhulia took oath as high court judge on November 1, 2008. He said that prior to this he was a lawyer in Allahabad High Court and later in Uttarakhand, and the assets list notes that “all immovable properties mentioned here are prior to my becoming a judge and there is no addition to it”.