CJI Received Over 8,000 Complaints Against Judges in a Decade, Says Govt

In response to a Lok Sabha query by Matheswaran VS, Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal stated that the Chief Justice of India has received around 8,360 complaints against sitting judges over the last 10 years, which are handled through the judiciary’s in-house mechanism. The following are the questions raised by Matheswaran VS (MP):

(a) Does the Government know if the Supreme Court has any system to keep records or a database of complaints about corruption, sexual misconduct, or other serious wrongdoing against High Court or Supreme Court judges?

(b) If such a system exists, how many complaints has the Supreme Court received in the last ten years? Please give the details year-wise and explain what action was taken. If no such records are kept, why not, especially when there is already an in-house procedure for judicial accountability?

(c) Is the Government planning to issue any guidelines or take steps to make sure complaints against senior judges are properly recorded, monitored, and handled in a transparent way? If yes, what are the details?

(d) Apart from CPGRAMS, does the Government have any other system to receive complaints against judges and send them to the Supreme Court or High Courts? If yes, what are the details?

Answering the questions, Arjun Ram Meghwal, the Minister of State for Law and Justice, said that the independence of the judiciary is protected by the Constitution of India. If someone makes a complaint against a Judge or a Chief Justice of a High Court, the judiciary handles it through an “in-house mechanism”.

In 1997, the Supreme Court of India passed two important resolutions: First, “The Restatement of Values of Judicial Life”, which lists the standards and ethical principles that judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts must follow. Second, “In-house procedure”, which explains what action can be taken if a judge does not follow those standards.

The Chief Justice of India (CJI) receives complaints against Supreme Court judges and Chief Justices of High Courts. And the Chief Justices of High Courts receive complaints against Judges of their respective High Courts.

However, if complaints are sent through CPGRAMS or any other method, they are forwarded to the appropriate Chief Justice.

Number of complaints received against sitting judges (in the last 10 years):