The order received a strong reaction from a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, which declared it “very, very disturbing” and listed the matter for hearing on March 18. The issue relates to the power of the Lokpal to take up the matters of alleged corruption involving the judges of the high courts
Interpreting the scope of its jurisdiction, India’s anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal declared that the judges of the high courts will come under the definition of public servant, as in its opinion, the high courts were constituted through an act of Parliament, and not the Constitution.
The order received a strong reaction from a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, which declared it “very, very disturbing” and listed the matter for hearing on March 18. The issue relates to the power of the Lokpal to take up the matters of alleged corruption involving the judges of the high courts.
The story begins with two complaints that the Lokpal received against a sitting judge of a high court, who had allegedly influenced an additional district judge and a judge of the same high court to favour a private company. Adjudicating on the complaints, the Lokpal discussed the scope of jurisdiction under the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013 and opined that it can take up complaints against the judges of the high court.
The Lokpal, headed by former Supreme Court judge A.M. Khanwilkar, based its opinion on two grounds: Firstly, the high courts were not established under Article 124 of the Constitution unlike the Supreme Court. Secondly, a majority judgment of the Supreme Court in K. Veeraswamy vs. Union of India (1991) says that “a judge of the superior court cannot… be excluded from the definition of public servant”.
Despite the Lokpal's arguments in support of its decision, the ombudsman appears to have erred in overlooking the Constitution’s Article 214(1) which mandates the setting up of the high court. The Constitution also guarantees extraordinary job security to high court judges in a manner that is similar to the one prescribed for the President, Supreme Court judges, election commissioners, and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. It is high time that the Supreme Court interprets the expression, “public servant”, in the 2013 Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act.
