Chief Justice of India Surya Kant defended the judiciary's mechanism for handling complaints against judges while calling for continuing reform and greater transparency. He delivered the sixth Ram Jethmalani Memorial Lecture in New Delhi on September 14, 2026, on the relationship between visible justice, transparency and public trust, according to Akashvani's report the following morning.
Surya Kant described the complaints mechanism as responsive and timely. He said institutions should not take pride in remaining unchanged, and that fair, informed criticism of judicial functioning was a legitimate part of constitutional democracy. His remarks placed openness to scrutiny alongside the judiciary's own responsibility to improve its working practices.
He also distinguished confidence in the judicial process from satisfaction with a particular verdict. In his account, public trust included the losing litigant continuing to believe that the hearing had been fair. These were the Chief Justice's assessments and arguments at the lecture, rather than findings from a newly announced review of complaint outcomes.
The Supreme Court's published December 18, 2014 judgment in Additional District and Sessions Judge X v Registrar General, High Court of Madhya Pradesh sets out the in-house procedure for High Court judges. It describes initial examination of complaints by the relevant Chief Justice, obtaining the judge's response to serious allegations and referring matters requiring a deeper inquiry to the Chief Justice of India.
Under that procedure, a deeper inquiry is conducted by a three-member committee comprising two Chief Justices from other High Courts and one High Court judge. The committee conducts fact-finding under principles of natural justice and gives the judge an opportunity to respond. Its report distinguishes unsupported allegations, misconduct not serious enough to warrant removal proceedings, and misconduct serious enough to warrant their initiation. Those are documented procedural stages behind the broader accountability issue discussed at the September lecture.
