Opinion DMK move to impeach HC judge is disquieting

No judge in India has been removed from office through impeachment. This is a consequence of the constitutional fortifications meant to ensure judicial independence. But to hold and endure, this architecture also requires a scaffolding of trust, of political parties respecting the separation of powers and the judiciary’s role. By and large, with the notable exception of the Emergency, the political class has respected the lines drawn by the constitutional scheme. Now, in pitting itself against the court, the DMK government is setting a disturbing precedent.

An impeachment motion has been moved by DMK legislators  — supported by 107 Opposition MPs — against Madras High Court Justice G R Swaminathan. The DMK contended that Justice Swaminathan’s order to Subramaniya Swamy Temple officials to light the lamp on Deepathoon on December 4 could lead to communal tensions and law and order issues. The Tamil Nadu government also argued that the order reverses a 2017 judgment by a division bench of the court. The government has every right to disagree with the court’s ruling. In fact, the appellate processes built into the judicial system are meant to ensure that several legal minds are applied to vexed questions. The DMK and the state government are welcome to exercise their right to appeal. Impeachment, however, is an extreme step, meant to be invoked only in cases where there is a prima facie case of incapacity or misbehaviour. It must not become a political tool, or a pressure tactic to intimidate judges when they pronounce verdicts a government finds disagreeable. What’s to stop governments across the country from blaming the umpire every time they lose a case?

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For a while now, parties of the national Opposition have alleged that an overbearing executive at the Centre seeks to undermine the letter and spirit of the Constitution. The DMK and its government in Tamil Nadu have been among the most vociferous critics of the BJP-led government on issues of politicisation of the governor’s office, undermining of federalism, and institutional capture. On these, it has approached the judiciary, and most recently, in the governor case, found relief. In this backdrop, the impeachment motion does not just set a disquieting precedent. It is also a case of the DMK shooting itself in the foot.