Justice M.M. Sundresh of the Madras High Court on Saturday said while corruption exists even in the judiciary, it takes social change to address it head-on.
He was delivering the inaugural address at an international conference on corruption, organised by the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
‘Lack of leadership’
‘Corruption does indeed exist, more so at the bottom level. This is also because of a lack of leadership on our part. We are genuinely trying to address this issue, especially after the present Chief Justice took charge. We have identified officers who have given the impression of being powerful despite being corrupt and after scrutiny of records, we have taken action,’ he said.
Justice Sundresh was careful to place corruption in context. “When an individual acquires position, he acquires power. There is no thinking that power has to be exercise for the purpose for which the individual is assigned,” he said.
Former Chief Election Commission T. S. Krishnamurthy, who chaired a session, said enforcement of laws was the weakest link when it came to the fight against corruption – there are adequate laws.
Former CBI Director R.K. Raghavan said“The average public servant does not seem to have changed in spite of clear directions of the present government and announcements that they would like to ensure transparency,” he said.
Justice Sundresh says corruption in judiciary exists more at lower level
