Justice Bhat was speaking at a farewell event organised in his honour as he is set to demit office as a judge of the Karnataka High Court on Sunday, August 7.
He pointed out a worrisome trend of complaints of misconduct arising at crucial stages of the careers of judges, regardless of how much judicial officers protect their independence and integrity.
“If such an allegation is established or such a perception prevails, judge is not independent and credibility is permanently dented. What then is the remedy? “, he asked.
He offered one solution for the same – judicial officers offering to take narco analysis test along with complainants, which he admitted could seem absurd and drastic at first.
“Judges, Judicial Officers and such other high functionaries like Lokayukta/Upa Lokayukta, etc. should offer themselves for narco-analysis test with the simultaneous liability for similar test on persons named by the functionary concerned, if the functionary feels the complaint is false and motivated,” he suggested.
The independence of the judiciary, he said, is realised by each individual judge remaining faithful to the office they hold.
“To my mind, threat to ‘Independence of Judiciary’ is a myth. Independence of judiciary is realised by an individual Judge remaining independent. How is that attained? It is only by the judge internalising certain values and virtues. It is the Judge who is a ‘recluse’ (in the felicitous words of Sri ES Venkataramaiah, former Chief Justice of India) makes for independent judiciary. A judge acting judiciously has so many protections under law,” he underscored.
Source: Barandbench
