Judiciary itself deal with corruption inside it: Law Minister

New Delhi: Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in Lok Sabha on Friday that the matter of checking corruption within the judiciary will be dealt with by the judiciary itself since it is an independent organ under the Constitution of India, PTI reported.

He said that accountability in the higher judiciary is maintained through "in-house procedure" adopted by the Supreme Court in the Full Court meeting held on May 7, 1997.

The "in-house procedure" states that the Chief Justice of India is competent to receive complaints against the conduct of the judges of the Supreme Court and the chief justices of the 25 high courts. Also, the chief justices of the high courts are competent to receive complaints against the conduct of high court judges.

The minister said, "Further, as per Article 235 of the Constitution of India, the control over district courts and Courts subordinate thereto vests in the (respective) High Court(s)."

He explained that complaints and representations regarding an allegation of corruption received are dealt with by the Chief Justice of India or by the chief justice of the high court concerned, as the case may be, for appropriate action. Similarly, complaints or representations against a member of subordinate judiciary received are forwarded to the Registrar General of the concerned HC for appropriate action.