Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan rebukes Justice Shylendra Kumar

“He wants publicity and such a thing is not good for a judge. Judges should not be publicity-crazy”, said Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan in a scathing attack on Justice Shylendra Kumar..Earlier, Justice Shylendra Kumar of the Karnataka High Court had, in an editorial, stated that the Chief Justice cannot speak for the members of the judiciary unless they had confided in or authorised him to do so. The Chief Justice argued that as the head of the judiciary in India, he has the right to speak on behalf of all the judges, as is the practice in all other countries..Explaining that he was not against disclosure of assets by the superior judiciary, he said, “If the judges want to disclose their assets, no one can prevent them. If the law comes, everyone has to declare.”.Justice K. Kannan, of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, in response to Mr. Prashant Bhushan’s open letter to the superior judiciary, wrote that the “CIC verdict directing the Supreme Court judges to declare their assets has found widespread approbation and the attempt of the Supreme Court to reverse the verdict by filing a writ petition before the Delhi High Court has drawn flak from many a quarter.”.Justifying the stay of the CIC order, he adds, “It is precisely for this reason that the judge who granted an order of stay on the CIC order said that judges could not be treated like politicians and ordinary government servants.”.Former Chief Justice J.S. Verma had passed a resolution in 1997 requiring the justices of the Supreme Court to report their assets to the Chief Justice. Explaining the resolution, Justice Verma had said, “It is essential for an independent, strong and respected judiciary and indispensable for impartial administration of justice.”.Close on the heels of Justice Kannan, who disclosed his assets earlier, Justice K. Chandru today disclosed details of his personal assets to the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.