March 14, 2002

    The Chef Justice of India on December 23, 2001 at a joint conference organized by the Bar Council of India and the State Bar Council of Kerala, inter-alia stated : "…….I have said it before and I will say it again: in my opinion, more than 80 per cent of the Judges in this country, across the board, are honest and incorruptible. It is that smaller percentage that brings the entire judiciary into disrepute. To make it known that the judiciary does not tolerate corruption in its ranks, it is requisite that corrupt Judges should be investigated and dismissed from service. This is very much possible in the case of subordinate judiciary because disciplinary control lies with the High Court. It is difficult where the higher judiciary is concerned because the only recourse in law is impeachment, which is cumbersome process and which, as a recent instance showed, may not achieve the desired result for reasons that are political. The Supreme Court and the High Courts have attempted to evolved an informal procedure to meet the situation, but it is yet to be tested."

    Under Article 235 of the Constitution of India, the administrative control over the members of subordinate Judicial Service vests with the concerned High Court in exercise of powers conferred under proviso to Article 309 read with Article 233 and 234 of the Constitution, the State Government frames rules and regulations in consultation with the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to such State. The members of the State Judicial Service are governed by these rules and regulations.

    This information was given by the Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley in a written reply to a question from Dr. Sushil Kumar Indora and five other Members in the Lok Sabha today.