Judicial Accountability Under Scrutiny: MPs Demand Code of Conduct for Judges

In a Parliamentary panel meeting on Tuesday, Members of Parliament expressed concern over the lack of an FIR in the case of unaccounted cash recovered from the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma. The MPs pressed the Department of Justice to prepare a detailed note on the matter, according to sources.

The meeting, which was focused on judicial accountability, saw a demand for a code of conduct for judges and a proposal that justices be barred from accepting government roles for five years post-retirement. These issues were raised during a session of the Parliamentary Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, where MPs posed queries to the Ministry of Law and Justice regarding the judiciary's conduct.

Sources reported that the Department of Justice was instructed to draft a comprehensive bill addressing these concerns, including ethics and a code of conduct for judges. Several MPs also emphasized that no motion to remove Justice Varma has been initiated, despite a Supreme Court-appointed committee's findings. Discussions further highlighted the need for cooling-off periods post-retirement and preventing judges' relatives from practicing in courts.

(With inputs from agencies.)