Chief Justice of India (CJI) Tirath Singh Thakur on Sunday said there would be no tolerance towards deviant behaviour and corruption by judges.
"We will be intolerant towards deviant behaviour and allegations of corruption and cleanse the institution," he said on being asked about allegations of corruption against certain judges in the course of his interaction with mediapersons after assuming office as the CJI.
On being asked about Justice C S Karnan of Madras High Court, who has been at loggerheads with his chief justice, the CJI, without mentioning any individual judge, said: "We will take note of it and take corrective action for any deviant behaviour coming (from judiciary) from Kashmir to Kanyakumari."
"The system must react to what is not acceptable. We should not remain quiet on what is not acceptable," he said, indicating the course that the top judiciary would take in dealing with errant judges during his tenure which would last just over a year.
Citing the difficulties in dealing with deviant judges, the Chief Justice pointed out that "in case of doubtful situation, the benefit of doubt would go to the institution (of judiciary) and not to the individual".
He said there were some misgivings about how certain judges conduct themselves and that brings into question the issue of credibility.
He also said appointment of 400 judges to fill vacancies in the higher judiciary was a mammoth exercise and not an easy task to perform.
He also said he would embark on this exercise only after the five-judge constitution bench spells out a transparent procedure of appointing judges.
Pointing out that there were 400 vacancies to fill in high courts, Chief Justice Thakur, by way of illustration, noted that there were 100 vacancies in Allahabad High Court and asked: "Do you think it is easy to find 100 judges from the Allahabad High Court bar?"
Even if you "lower the bar" (criteria for the selection of judges), yet merit and suitability can't be compromised, he observed.
However, the appointment of judges to higher judiciary through collegium route as has been decided by the apex court constitution bench on October 16 last, would take some time as Chief Justice Thakur said: "I will be comfortable if I know how I am expected to work. It will be safer and prudent."
