Judging the judges 

CNN IBN has reported that a RTI Query shows judges went on foreign junkets, with wives at government expense. This has once again raised the issue of transparency and accountability in the judiciary and the conduct of the judges. More than the Caesar’s wife it is the judges and their wives that need to be above suspicion in public eye. 

With the revelation made by the CNN IBN news channel regarding the foreign jaunts of the judges the question whether the higher judiciary be out of the purview of the RTI has become a hot subject. The chief justice thinks so and the debate rages, but an RTI application on the foreign tours of judges of the supreme court put in by CNN IBN has thrown up interesting facts.

For instance, even though government rules say officials should travel by the most direct and shortest possible route, the judiciary it seems is above this. Judges have been traveling with their wives to attend seminars and conferences abroad taking circuitous routes and sometimes converting official trips to private ones with the airfare being paid for by the government.

Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan for instance had gone to participate in the regional conference of the International Law Association being hosted by the South African branch of the ILA (SABILA) at Pretoria, South Africa along with wife Nirmala Balakrishnan from August 27th to August 29th, 2007.

Nevertheless, for the three-day trip, the official period of THE visit was from August 24th to September 4th, 2007. As per the sanction order of the Department of Justice available with CNN IBN, the first class air passage of the judge and his wife was from Delhi to Dubai to Johannesburg to Nelspruit to Cape Town to Johannesburg to Victoria Falls to Johannesburg to Dubai and back. Incidentally, the Chief Justice left for Nelspruit, a picturesque town next to the Kruger national park, on the 28th of August, left for Cape Town on the 29th and was expected to go to Victoria Falls on the 1st of September. Sources have told CNN IBN the judge cancelled this leg of his visit at the last moment. But what’s surprising is no questions were asked by the Prime Minister (who sanctions these tours) or other officials as to why the Chief Justice sought permission to go to Victoria Falls, permission that was readily given. Justice Balakrishnan went out on seven trips after taking over as Chief Justice in January, 2007.

Law minister Hansraj Bhardwaj defends the government by saying the trips are ``sanctioned by the chief justice’’. Besides, he says, ``Judges too need comfort. They too need to go out. Why should they be deprived.’’ But what about government rules that say wives are not allowed on work trips.

The law minister says, ``I am strictly against judges traveling without their wives. …How can you deprive the wives?’’

Another judge who was a frequent flyer is former Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal. The judge went abroad to attend three conferences in 2005. The conferences in Edinburgh (Spring Conference of the British Branch of the International Law Association on May 27-28), Washington (Sixth World Wide Common Law Judiciary Conference from May 29 to June 3) and Paris (16th Congress of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers on June 7 to 11) lasted in all 11 days. Nevertheless Sabharwal was out of the country for 38 days of which 21 days were converted into a private visit. The sanction note says, ``the period of visit from June 13, 2005 to July 3, 2005 will be private’’. The first class ticket for both the private and official trips were paid for by the government. The route Sabharwal took was Delh to London to Edinburgh to London to Washington to Baltimore to Orlando (famous for Disney Land) to Atlanta to Paris to London to Delhi.

It is unfortunate that Justice (Retd.) Sabharwal continues to be the subject of debate and people do not forget that he has been accused of conduct that erodes the faith of the common man in the judicial system.

Other judges who couldn’t find direct flights. Justices PP Naolekar and A K Mathur of the supreme court travelled to Bangkok in November 2007. Both judges and their wives spent over Rs 5.5 lakh travelling first class from Delhi to Kuala Lampur to Bangkok to Singapore to Delhi! For a three day trip November 22-24, the judges were out from November 19 to November 26.

A quick calculation of the big spenders per trip shows:

Justice Ashok Bhan and wife spent Rs 13.66 Lakhs on Air Fare in 2006, Justice Arijit Passayat and wife: Rs 13.01 Lakhs (2006), Justice HK Sema plus wife - a single trip in 2007 that cost Rs 11.84 lakhs, Justice BN Agarwal and wife took a trip in 2006 that cost 11.77 lakhs and Justice KG Balakrishnan and wife in 2006 cost the exchequer 13 lakh rupees.