World | India
Millions paid for judge's foreign trips
The high priests of India's judiciary appear to have a fondness for flying high, suggests a Supreme Court account of foreign jaunts undertaken by its judges.
- IANS
- Published: 23:35 December 4, 2008
New Delhi: The high priests of India's judiciary appear to have a fondness for flying high, suggests a Supreme Court account of foreign jaunts undertaken by its judges.
According to information divulged by the apex court under the Right To Information (RTI) act, present Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan undertook 12 foreign jaunts from 2005 till now, costing the public exchequer a whopping Rs7.53 million (Dh579,230) on airfares alone.
Nine of these trips were taken after he became chief justice in January 2007 and three while he was a Supreme Court judge.
This amount does not take into account other expenses like boarding, the justice department said in its reply to RTI activist Devashish Bhattacharya.
Countries visited by Balakrishnan as part of his "official duty" are the US, Britain, Canada, France, South Africa, the UAE, China and the Philippines. He visited Britain four times and Canada twice.
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