During the 2012 budget session, the Lok Sabha had passed the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill with amendments. The bill is now pending with the Rajya Sabha. The bill aims to lay down judicial standards, provide for the accountability of judges, establish methods for investigating individual complaints of misbehavior or incapacity of a judge of the Supreme Court or High Courts, and also provide a mechanism for the removal of judges. By and large the bill does satisfy these goals. However, a number of clauses in the bill have been labelled as controversial and are believed to be a hindrance to judicial independence. The bill will allow ordinary individuals to lodge complaints against Supreme Court and High Court judges, which some believe could lead to harassment and affect the independence of the judiciary. The bill does however make a provision for punishment for frivolous complaints. Another clause which was added later by a parliamentary committee's recommendation states, "No judge shall make unwarranted comments against the conduct of any constitutional or statutory institution or officials at the time of hearing matters in open courts." This clause has attracted criticism from jurists and others as it strictly limits judicial pronouncements. Also, it is unclear from the bill if judges would be able to appeal against an order of removal issued by the President in the Supreme Court.
Eminent jurists have expressed their displeasure at the bill from time to time. Yesterday, at the the Independence Day celebration of the Supreme Court Bar Association of India, Chief Justice of India, Shri S. H. Kapadia, cautioned the government to act wisely. He said, "The government may make laws, making the judges accountable. We are not afraid of that. The question is in that process constitutional tinkering should be done very carefully. We need to take opinions of eminent jurists who will give objective opinion, jurists coming from all sections; otherwise, I am afraid that with the state of drafting of laws in our country today, we will be taking a very big risk and we will be disturbing the constitutional balance, which we will be regretting for all time to come." At the same time, he also cautioned judges against overreach and stated that the rights and privileges of other institutions need to be respected. In his opinion, the underlying constitutional principle of an independent judiciary must be respected in the end.
It is true that judicial accountability is formally lacking in India and that it is necessary to make the judiciary accountable to the people of this country. However, the methodology adopted needs to be carefully considered and debated, and should not curb the independence of judiciary in the name of accountability. Also, in my opinion, greater focus should be placed on the lower strata of the judiciary, where corruption is a higher. Also, it is necessary to introduce equal level of accountability to all the three branches of the government. This means that bills such as the Lokpal, the Whistleblowers Protection Bill, and other bills, should establish the same the level of accountability, and must come into force at roughly the same time. In the end, the rights of the people and the spirit of the constitution of India must be respected in all ways.
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