SC Justice suggests three-stage accountability for judges

Hyderabad, Oct 14 (UNI) Supreme Court Judge Arijit Pasayat today suggested 'three-stage accountability' for members of the judiciary - to themselves, to the institution and to society.

Delivering the Babul Reddy Foundation Lecture on 'Judicial Accountability and Transparency', he said the first stage was that each member of the judiciary should be accountable to himself or herself. The judge should do soul-searching and introspection and be convinced that what he had done was morally and legally correct.

The second stage of accountability was of the individual to the institution. The individual had to ensure that what he or she had done would not bring disrespect to the institution. The institution could not be segregated from individuals and credibility or lack of it would depend to a complete measure on individuals, he added.

Mr Justice Pasayat said the third stage was accountability of the institution to society. Asserting that the essential judicial function meant that judges were not allowed to surrender their judgement to others, he said 'an independent judiciary is the live wire of our judicial system and if that wire is snapped, the doomsday of judiciary will not be far off'.

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