Supreme Court judges have a conservative financial portfolio, invest in FDs and PFs

Indian Express

07-05-2025

A CLOSE look at the assets of Supreme Court judges reveals that most of them have a conservative investment portfolio. Barring two judges, who have not segregated the details of their financial assets, all have kept a bulk of their savings in bank deposits, fixed deposits and provident funds.
The assets, which include those of their spouses and dependents, disclosed Monday night also shows that every judge owns at least one real estate asset. The data shows that while three judges have assets exceeding Rs 25 crore, three others have financial assets between Rs 5 crore and Rs 25 crore. There are eight justices whose financial assets are between Rs 1crore and Rs 5 crore. The remaining seven have financial savings under Rs 1 crore, of which four have less than Rs 50 lakh in financial savings.
As many as 21 of the 33 judges who disclosed their assets had aggregate savings of Rs 270 crore in financial instruments. Cumulatively, these judges and their spouses also owned 73 real estate assets, and nearly 12 kg of gold.
Except for two judges who haven't provided segregated details, the cumulative financial assets of 19 judges are Rs 128.5 crore. Of this, FDs and bank deposits add up to Rs 86.19 crore; General Provident Fund and Public Provident Fund total Rs 25.44 crore; and shares and mutual funds are valued at Rs 16.87 crore.
In other words, FDs, GPF and PPF of the 19 judges account for 86.9 per cent of their total financial assets, underlining the conservative nature of their financial portfolios.
Justice K V Viswanathan, who was a successful lawyer until he was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court in May 2023, accounted for more than half of the total savings of all 21 in the list. With Rs 137 crore, his financial assets account for more than 50 per cent of the total financial assets of all 21 justices. The judge has, however, disclosed that he paid as much as Rs 91.47 crore in taxes between 2011-12 and 2024-25. In the Assessment Year 2024-25, he paid taxes amounting to Rs 6.7 crore.
Justice Viswanathan, with Rs 137 crore in assets, has not segregated it into cash, mutual funds and shares. The other judge who has not provided segregated details, Justice Vikram Nath, has declared financial assets of Rs 4.75 crore.
The properties owned by the 21 judges range from agricultural land and residential plots to flats and commercial properties. While they have collectively acquired 29 flats and 13 houses, they also own 19 plots, seven parcels of agricultural land and five offices or shops.
Most judges said the gold and silver they held was 'stree dhan' — property a woman receives during her lifetime voluntarily from her family. They also hold substantial amounts of silver (64.5 kg). These do not include the ancestral and inherited properties.
The data also shows that just three judges, Justices Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, Manmohan and Viswanathan, account for a bulk — more than 79 per cent — of all financial savings of the 21 judges.
Several other judges have also disclosed that their financial assets include gifts from parents who have been income tax assesses and that has been reported to the income tax department and accepted over the years in their ITR.
When it comes to holding real estate, at least five judges own five properties, nine have 4-5 properties and the remaining seven have up to two properties. Two judges have one property each. Some judges have also disclosed that most of the immovable properties were acquired prior to their becoming a judge as they were then lawyers/advocates earlier.
When it comes to ownership of vehicles, 15 judges collectively own 20 cars while six others do not own a single one. One Justice owns a Toyota Camry hybrid and a Toyota Altis, another an Ecosport and Tata Harrier, and third owns a Jeep Compass.