Opinion Where the matter rests

•This refers to the report ‘Moily reverses Bharadwaj: will push impeachment of Calcutta HC judge’ (IE,May 30). It is mentioned in the report that on the matter of impeachment proceedings against Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta high court,the Union law minister is reported to have said that “he would soon take up the impeachment matter with Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (where it is pending).” I wish to bring to your attention that a notice of a motion under Article 217,read with Article 124(4) of the Constitution,was given by 57 members of the Rajya Sabha on February 20,2009 for presenting an address to the president,praying for the removal of Justice Sen. This motion was admitted by the Chairman,Rajya Sabha on February 27,2009. Thereafter,under the provisions contained in sub-section (2) of Section (3) of the Judges Inquiry Act,1968,he had appointed a committee with the following membership and a notification to that effect was published in the Gazette of India dated March 20,2009: (i) Hon’ble Justice D.K. Jain,Judge of the Supreme Court of India,(ii) Hon’ble Justice T.S. Thakur,Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court; and (iii) Shri Fali S. Nariman,Senior Advocate,Supreme Court of India. The matter is now before the aforesaid committee,which has to investigate into the grounds on which the removal of Justice Sen is prayed for.

— V.K. Agnihotri

Secretary-General

Rajya Sabha

New Delhi

Good choice

•Our parliamentary democracy should be proud of the fact that the new Lok Sabha speaker has been chosen by consensus among different parties. The PM’s initiative in contacting the largest opposition party,the BJP,deserves praise,as does the offer to the BJP to suggest the name of the deputy speaker. This exercise raises the dignity and sanctity of the House and of its presiding officer. Above all,we should be proud that the new speaker is a woman and also a Dalit. Perhaps,the House should bear in mind the fate of the last speaker,Somnath Chatterjee,when he was expelled by the CPM for defying the party whip and staying on as a neutral speaker. To avoid a repeat,it maybe a good idea for both the speaker and the deputy speaker to resign from their respective parties.

— Hemant Kumar

Ambala

Jena wronged?

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•The editorial ‘Rank trouble’ (IE,June 3) loses sight of an important aspect of the Srikant Jena issue. Since Jena has been a cabinet minister before,he should either have been given a cabinet position or not appointed minister at all. To make him a minister of state is not appropriate. The editorial takes its stand on Jena’s oath but fails to appreciate that the gentleman must have been rather perplexed by the unexpected and negligent manner of his placement in the council of ministers.

— Anil Nauriya

New Delhi