Agencies Posted online: Friday, May 25, 2007 at 1835 hours IST Updated: Friday, May 25, 2007 at 1856 hours IST
New Delhi, May 25: Thirty-six per cent of Indians paid bribes to judiciary last year and a household on average spent Rs 3,817 in this regard, according to an international watchdog for corruption.
The 'Global Corruption Barometer 2006' report, prepared by Transparency International (TI), also claimed this was a bigger amount than the bribe paid in any other sector of the country.
As many as 77 per cent of the Indian respondents described the country's judicial system as corrupt, the report said.
"The average amount of money paid in bribes by a household in India in the past 12 months was maximum in Judiciary (Rs 3,817) as compared to other sectors," the report said.
The TI quoted a 2005 study by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS) which estimated the amount paid by Indians as bribe to the judiciary at about Rs 2,630 crore.
The CMS study said majority of the bribe money went to lawyers (61 per cent) followed by court officials (29 per cent) and middlemen (five per cent).
The TI, however, did not provide details of the number of people it surveyed.
"Although provisions for the independence and accountability of the judiciary exists in the Constitution, corruption is increasingly apparent," it said.
Elaborating on the reasons for increasing corruption in the judiciary, the report said delays due to shortage of judges and complex legal procedures are making Indians take recourse to corrupt measures for getting justice.
New Delhi, May 25: Thirty-six per cent of Indians paid bribes to judiciary last year and a household on average spent Rs 3,817 in this regard, according to an international watchdog for corruption.
