Areas where Judicial Accountability has been found lacking

♤ Appointment and Removal of Judges. – The collegium system in India presents a unique system wherein the democratically elected executive and Parliament at large has no say in appointing judges.

o Impeachment of judges is a long-drawn-out and difficult process along with its political overtone.

♤ Conduct of Judges- where judges have been alleged to have indulged in corruption (Justice Ramaswami Case, Justice Soumitra Sen), misappropriation, sexual harassment, taking post retirement jobs among others.

♤ Opacity in the operations of Judiciary- The judiciary claims that any outside body having disciplinary powers over them who compromise their independence so they have set up an

“in-house mechanism” investigating corruption.

♤ Information asymmetry with Judiciary- Judiciary has virtually kept itself outside the purview of the Right of Information Act.

♤ Contempt of Court- Using the powers under the Contempt of Court Act, judiciary has been alleged to silence the rightful critics also.

♤ Judicial Overreach- Judiciary has been praised on its activism towards resolving citizen’s grievances, however, in this process some of the decisions have encroached the line of overreach also.