चलो कोई तो है, कर्मचारियों की सुनने वाला !

The Delhi high court stays public declaration of assets of spouses and dependent children of government employees under Lokpal Act

A division bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and Vipin Sanghi directed the central government that information on asset liabilities of spouses or dependent children will not be revealed to the public by government departments. It said such information will only be furnished to respective departments in a sealed cover.

The court was hearing a plea by Vinita Singla, wife of a public servant and working in a major IT company ofIndia, who opposed the Lokapal provisions contending that they were violative of her Fundamental Rights.

The court also said that till its further orders in November, the sealed envelopes reaching all departments shouldn’t be opened.

Singla submitted that if independent liabilities of the spouse and or the dependent children, which have no relation with the public servant, are disclosed on government website, they will “cause prejudice and humiliation before the public at large”.

“Prima facie, there is merit in the petitioner’s contention. She is a private citizen and declaration of her assets is violation of the Article 21 of the Constitution.

The stayed order comes as a huge relief to harried bureaucrats and central government employees forced under the Lokpal Act to file declarations of their assets and liabilities and those of their spouses and dependent children.

Vinita Singla, through her lawyer Manish Jain, questioned the government’s decision to seek her assets with the intention to display the information on its website.

“Even otherwise the constitutional and legal rights, privileges and liberties of the Petitioner cannot be jeopardized and/or affected, just because of the reason that the Petitioner is married to a public servant”.

“The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, which is inter-alia unreasonable, arbitrary, unjustified and unconstitutional, as the same is seeking declaration in the form of information from the public servant even for the assets of the spouse and dependent children, which has not been generated from the income and/or contribution of the public servant in any manner whatsoever and that the said information is further directed to be published on the website of such ministry or department, which will make the said information visible to the public at large, which inter-alia may be detrimental and cause prejudice to the said spouse and/or children of the public servant,” Singla argued in HC.