Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Soumitra Sen,a judge on the Calcutta high court,has decided to quit rather than be fired. After Rajya Sabha voted overwhelmingly against him in the recent impeachment proceedings,Sen decided to resign before Lok Sabha begins its deliberations on the matter.
Accused of keeping money received as an advocate-receiver in the Calcutta high court in the 1990s,Justice Sen had presented a spirited defence in Rajya Sabha. However,the subsequent debate took apart his arguments,and in the process addressed larger questions about the critical balance between legislature and judiciary. Sitaram Yechury,introducing the motion,stressed the fact that this was not a move to question the integrity of the judiciary,but to strengthen it,by not allowing the act of a single judge to besmirch the entire institution. Arun Jaitley also took pains to clarify that Parliament now invoked this rare power to remove a man but save the dignity of the office. He demolished Sens defence point-by-point,saying that as a judge he should not cite technicalities to avoid the rigours of the law. The debate ranged further,on vital questions of the judiciarys independence and credibility. The system of appointing judges is widely acknowledged as flawed,and rife with discretion. Its also near-impossible to remove errant judges. The Rajya Saba debate discussed the need to introduce some accountability mechanisms that would still protect the independence of the judiciary. The debate was deeply conscious of its own gravity,and made repeated reference to the separation of powers,of making sure that no branch of government,the legislature,executive or judiciary,encroached upon each others preserve. Jaitley,for instance,cited recent examples of judicial activism that trod on the executives turf,and spoke of the sanctity of the lakshman rekha dividing the three institutions.
Regardless of what happens next in the Justice Sen saga,its important this debate carries on in the same spirit of responsible course-correction.
