Moily welcomes decision of SC judges to disclose their assets

New Delhi, Aug 27 (PTI) India's Law Minister M
Veerappa Moily, who was opposed to any pressure on judges to
make public their assets, Thursday welcomed the decision of
Supreme Court judges to declare their assets and said it is
for them to work out on how to go about it.

"It is welcome. It is for the judges to decide how it
should be done because what is best in the interest of the
judges, they are the best judges," he said.

He was reacting to the decision taken Wednesday by
apex court judges to declare their asset, an issue that has
been haunting the higher judiciary for quite some time.

Moily said, "Not that it is new, they were not
unwilling but there are certain things for judges unlike
(others as) they are not elected people".

The Minister said that the government never wanted
judges to be embarrassed or inconvenienced. "If they have come
forward to disclose it, it is welcome," he said.

Moily had to beat a hasty retreat in Upper House of
Indian Parliament (Rajya Sabha) earlier this month and
withdraw introduction of a bill seeking to protect judges from
making their assets public after the entire opposition took
strong objection to it.

Parties belonging to both the Left and the Right had
joined hands on August three to oppose introduction of the
Judges (Declaration of Assets and Liabilities) Bill, 2009,
stating that it violated the Constitution by protecting the
higher judiciary from disclosing their assets.

Moily had stated Wednesday that if judges were
voluntarily disclosing their assets and "wanting to become
heroes, it is their wish". PTI