Former SC judge Ruma Pal slams judicial ‘secrecy, hypocrisy’

Among other things, she tore into the lack of transparency in the appointment of judges and the lack of an embedded mechanism to ensure judicial accountability.

''The process of appointment of judges to the superior courts was possibly the best kept secret of the country,'' she said at the fifth VM Tarkunde Memorial Lecture organised by Tarkunde Memorial Foundation and the People's Union for Civil Liberties in New Delhi.

Among the audience hearing her unprecedentedly hard-hitting remarks were several sitting Delhi High Court and Supreme Court judges, as well as Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.

Calling for honesty, Pal said, ''The independence of the judiciary and of judicial system ultimately depends on the personal integrity of each judge. It goes without saying that judges have to be above corruption.''

She pointed out that while judges are fierce in using the word 'independence' as a sword to take contempt action against critics, the word is also used to cover a multitude of sins.

''Judicial independence cannot exist without accountability. There is a need for an effective mechanism for enforcing judicial accountability,'' Pal said.