Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Probity in judiciary

Sir, — This is with reference to your Editorial "Judicial excesses" (Dec. 9).

To ensure probity and public confidence in the judiciary, the Chief Justice of India has initiated the practice of inquiry into serious charges against any judge by a committee of Chief Justices. Apart from impeachment of errant judges, the suitable corrective is an informal inquiry clubbed with the stoppage of court work for the guilty judges and resignations. Notwithstanding this, there is an immediate need for the creation of a formal judicial commission to deal with the appointment and conduct of judges and to create an ambience for greater transparency, internal monitoring and accountability within the judiciary.

Tadepalli Rammohan,
Cuddapah, A.P.

Sir, — You have rightly said in your Editorial that the authority of the judiciary should stand on a firm footing. This constitutional body cannot exist in unaccountable seclusion. The existence of corruption among a section of the higher judiciary was admitted by the former Chief Justice Bharucha, and the same was corroborated by the Karnataka judge, M.F. Saldana. The serious erosion of values in the judiciary happens because the values are contained in unwritten conventions. The conference of Chief Justices of all the High Courts held in the last week of November 1999 resolved to adopt the `Restatement of values of judicial life (code of conduct)'. The conference also decided to implement the report submitted by a committee on "in-house procedure" and take suitable remedial action against the judges who failed to adopt universally-accepted values. Before public confidence is wholly eroded, the rot should be stemmed by suitable measures.

H. Syed Mathani,
Tiruchi, T.N.

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