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Journalism of Courage
Calcutta high court judge Soumitra Sen might end up making history as the first judge to be impeached in India. Wheels are in motion,and proceedings have been instituted against him for allegedly misappropriating public funds and then making a false statement about it. Impeachment is the most severe punishment possible,and reserved for the most extreme circumstances. The cumbersome,complicated process has to be initiated by at least 100 MPs in Lok Sabha or 50 in Rajya Sabha. No judge has been impeached so far. The case of Justice V. Ramaswami of the Punjab and Haryana high court in the early 90s was the last time impeachment was considered. Last year,in the case of Justice P.D. Dinakaran,a collegium of Supreme Court judges considered the case against him,even as public speculation raged on. Time and again,the Supreme Court has stated that transfer cannot be considered punishment. Effectively,we have no real mechanism to deal with allegations of impropriety against a judge,impeachment being the only way out. The judiciary would almost unanimously prefer judicial councils,a system where judges can be judged by peers. Others have argued that this would lead the profession to withdraw protectively into itself and end up shielding its own,also citing the shoddy job of self-regulation that the Bar Council of India and others have demonstrated,and the fact that sitting judges will have to take on these duties which cut into their regular work. They argue it would make more sense to have an independent body look into these complaints and take action against errant judges. Justice J.S. Verma has emphasised the need for such a machinery to take on corruption allegations: It appears that the social sanction of the community has been waning and inadequate of late. If so,the time for legal sanction being provided may have been reached. The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill is to finally come up in this Parliament session. It proposes a five-member national judicial oversight committee chaired by the Chief Justice of India,
including the attorney general,CJI-nominated judges from the SC and high court,and an eminent person recommended by the president. This committee would set up a scrutiny committee to conduct time-bound investigations within three months. They have a larger array of punitive options,including withdrawal of judicial work and public censure. Certainly,these actions would reinforce accountability,by making it possible to come down hard on errant judges without resorting to the drastic and laborious step of impeachment. It would also burnish the credibility of the higher judiciary,by revealing it as subject to checks and corrections.
