Delhi High Court judges' asset disclosures significantly declined

The Delhi High Court faces criticism for the lack of transparency among its judges regarding asset declarations. Only seven out of the current 39 judges have published their asset details on the official website. This decline in transparency is notable, as in 2018, 29 judges had made such disclosures. The High Court had originally aimed for greater transparency with a resolution in 2009 encouraging judges to declare their assets. However, the situation has worsened over time. For example, a file uploaded by Justice Yashyant Verma appears to be unusable, showing a "Dummy PDF file." Other high courts in India have similar issues. Only six out of 25 high courts have judges that have declared their assets online. The Supreme Court, with 33 judges, has 28 who submitted asset declarations, but their details are not publicly accessible. A report from a Parliamentary Standing Committee in August 2023 recommended mandatory annual asset declarations for judges in higher courts. It argued that public officials should be transparent about their finances, just like candidates for elections. The committee stressed that declaring assets would enhance trust in the judicial system and suggested that similar rules for civil servants should apply to judges as well. The committee called for a formal process requiring judges to regularly file and publish their asset declarations, aligning them with practices seen in other public offices.