Supreme Court makes judges’ assets public for the first time

The Supreme Court of India has, for the first time, published the asset declarations of its sitting judges on the court’s official website.

In a move to increase transparency and judicial accountability, the asset details of 21 of the 33 sitting judges of the apex court, including Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and the next three chief jutices-in-waiting, have been uploaded, as of Monday.

The remaining disclosures, according to the court, will be made public as and when the current statement of assets is received.

According to the details available on the website, CJI Khanna has ₹ 55.75 lakh in fixed deposits and bank accounts and ₹1.06 crore in Public Provident Fund (PPF).

The CJI also owns a two-bedroom DDA flat in South Delhi and a four-bedroom flat in the Commonwealth Games Village in the national Capital.

Justice BR Gavai, who will take over as the Chief Justice of India (CJI) on May 14, has ₹ 19.63 lakh in bank accounts and ₹6.59 lakh in his PPF account.

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Justice Gavai has inherited a house in Amravati, Maharashtra, and owns two residential flats, one in Maharashtra, and another in New Delhi. He has also declared liabilities worth ₹1.3 crore.

Justice Surya Kant has fixed deposit receipts worth over ₹6 crore and owns residential properties in Chandigarh, Gurugram, and New Delhi.

Justice AS Oka, who will retire from service on May 24 this year, has ₹ 92.35 lakh in PPF, ₹21.76 lakh worth of fixed deposits, and a 2022 model Maruti car. He has also declared his liability for a car loan of ₹5.1 lakh.

Justice Vikram Nath has declared investments worth ₹1.5 crore and owns two residential properties, a flat in Noida, and a bungalow in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.

Justice KV Viswanathan, elevated as a judge in May 2023, has disclosed investments worth ₹120.96 crore, and income tax payments of ₹91.47 crore between 2010 and 2025.

Justice Bela M Trivedi owns two homes in Ahmedabad and jewellery worth ₹50 lakh.

Such declaration of assets of the judges follows a full court meeting convened on April 1, where all the sitting judges of the Supreme Court had unanimously resolved to make public disclosure of their assets mandatory, shifting from the earlier practice of confidential submissions to the CJI.

The decision came in the wake of a controversy involving alleged recovery of unaccounted cash from the official premises of Justice Yashwant Varma—then serving at the Delhi High Court—who is now under an in-house inquiry.

The new resolution applies not only to current judges but also to future appointees of the Supreme Court.

High court judges are already required to submit similar declarations to their respective Chief Justices, though public disclosure remains rare.