Delay in probe and impeachment harms trust in the judiciary
It is given that there cannot be a question on the integrity of judicial officers, but the inaction on the part of everyone concerned in the case of a judge of the Allahabad High Court, from whose house in Delhi bundles of charred currency notes were found in March this year, defies logic and propriety.
Normally, such an incident would lead to the filing of a first information report and the initiation of a criminal investigation, which would prove the innocence of the judge, as he claims, or otherwise.
Instead of initiating such an investigation, the Chief Justice of India formed an internal inquiry by a team of three high court judges, two of them being chief justices. The panel has reportedly come out with findings that point to wrongdoing by the judge, and hence the clamour for his impeachment.
The Judges (Inquiry) Act), 1968, which lays down the procedure for the investigation into the alleged misbehaviour or incapacity of a judge of the Supreme Court or of a high court, says the process of impeachment begins with at least 100 members of the Lok Sabha or 50 of the Rajya Sabha submitting a motion to the President. The Speaker or the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, as the case may be, will then constitute an inquiry committee consisting of three persons, including a Supreme Court judge, the chief justice of a high court and a jurist. If the panel indicts the judge, then the motion will go back to the Houses of Parliament, which need to pass it with a two-thirds majority.
The Union law minister has said he will seek the cooperation of all parties in moving such a motion.
It is sad that a judge whom the public has reason to believe is tainted continues to hold office while no legal and constitutional action is taken against him.
This is an unacceptable delay, and the government must move with the alacrity the case demands.
