Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam on Wednesday rejected Union law Minister Kapil Sibal’s view that accountability process in judiciary was exceptionally weak. He said all complaints against judges are dealt with through the existing in-house mechanism.
At present, no request of the Government or any of its agencies is pending in the Supreme Court, Sathasivam said. “I have utmost regard for our honorable law Minister. Unfortunately, he was not given accurate and proper information about the role of judges and how the judiciary functions. The mechanism to deal with complaints against sitting judges of the Supreme Court and the high court’s is provided in the in-house procedure,” he said in his valedictory address during CVC’s Golden Jubilee celebrations.
He was referring to Sibal’s remarks on Tuesday that the process of accountability within the judiciary was “exceptionally weak”. “Unless the CJI in his individual capacity grants sanction, there can be no process of investigation. And, therefore, you see very few instances of people being brought to book,” the Minister had said.