When the Supreme Court of India took the moral high road and published the assets of their judges in November last year, one expected all the high courts to follow suit. However, six months down the line, judges of only four High Courts, numbering 173 of the total strength of 630 judges, in 21 high courts, have made a clean breast of their finances.

The High Courts of Madras, Kerala, Punjab & Haryana and Delhi have officially declared the assets of their judges on their respective websites. The Himachal Pradesh High Court however, which resolved to declare the assets of the Judges way back in 2008 are yet to come around to publishing the details.

Justice Shylendra Kumar of the Karnataka High Court, on the other hand, declared his assets on his personal website, when the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High court, P.D. Dinakaran prevented the Judges from publishing details of their assets on the high court’s website. Former Union Minister and Senior Counsel Shanti Bhushan, like many others, suspects that Chief Justice Dinakaran’s action arises from the need to seek cover from the various allegations.

However, judges who have been transferred to courts whose judges had already declared are yet to declare their assets. Shanti Bhushan, who has always been in favour of the judiciary disclosing their assets expressed his disappointment at the judges who are yet to disclose particulars. Speaking to Bar & Bench he said, “In my opinion all the High Courts should declare assets publicly so as to create an impression in the public mind that they are honest. If they don't declare, it may create an impression in the public mind that they are accumulating assets through corrupt practices,” he said.

It might be a long wait, considering that as of today, there is no indication as to when the remaining 457 judges go public with details of their assets. While the actions of the Supreme Court have consistently set precedent to the higher judiciary, the conscious decision by the High Courts not to ape the Apex Court has surprised many. The High Courts have surely fallen short of expectation in not toeing the line drawn by the Supreme Court.