New Delhi: Opposition members of the INDIA bloc are preparing to give notices to move impeachment proceedings in both houses of parliament against Allahabad high court Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, who delivered a communal speech endorsing extremist Hindutva views at an event organised by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on December 8.
The Wire has learnt from sources that there are two separate notices being prepared in the two houses. Sources said that while the one in the Rajya Sabha is being steered by independent MP and senior advocate in the Supreme Court Kapil Sibal, the one in the Lok Sabha is being led by National Conference MP from Srinagar Ruhullah Mehdi.
Sources said that the notice in the Rajya Sabha has already gathered 40 signatures, and the one in the Lok Sabha has got more than 50 signatures so far. Sources added that efforts are underway to gather more signatures and that the notices are likely to be submitted in the coming days.
Justice Yadav, as The Wire has reported, had said that India would function only as per the wishes of the “majority”, referring to the Hindu community. He also used the controversial term “kathmulla” to refer to a section of Muslims who engaged in practices such as having four wives and triple talaq, describing them as “fatal” to the nation.
Mehdi’s notice takes note of the language used by Justice Yadav at the VHP event and references his statements to argue that “his continued tenure is detrimental to the integrity, impartiality and secular ethos of the judiciary”.
Speaking to The Wire, Saket Gokhale, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP in the Rajya Sabha who has signed the notice in the upper house, said that the judge’s remarks were “deplorable”.
“The remarks of the judge are deplorable. The judge being in the system after making such unacceptable, unconstitutional remarks would be travesty of justice,” he said.
While the notice in the Lok Sabha has at present more than 50 signatures, sources said that MPs from all opposition parties, including the Congress, TMC, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Samajwadi Party, have assured their support and will sign it soon.
In the Rajya Sabha too, with 40 signatures in, efforts are underway to gather the requisite 50, with members from the Congress, TMC, Samajwadi Party, and Left parties already on board.
What the law states
Section 3 of The Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 states that if notice is given of a motion for presenting an address to the president for the removal of a judge, it needs to be supported by signatures of not less than 100 members in the Lok Sabha and, in case such a notice is given in the Rajya Sabha, not less than 50 members of the upper house.
If the motion is admitted, the speaker in the Lok Sabha or the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, as the case may be, will constitute a three-member committee. The committee shall comprise one judge from the Supreme Court, one from the high courts and a jurist.
Mehdi shared a copy of his notice on X, which states he is moving the motion in accordance with Article 124(4) of the constitution.
Under Article 217 of the constitution, a high court judge may be removed from office by the president in the manner provided in clause (4) of Article 124 for the removal of a judge of the Supreme Court.
Article 124 (4) states that a judge of the Supreme Court shall not be removed from office except by an order of the president that is passed after an address by each House of parliament, supported by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of the House present and voting, has been presented to the president in the same session for such removal on grounds of proven misbehaviour or incapacity.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Supreme Court took note of Justice Yadav’s remarks and has sought details from the high court.
The Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms has also written to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna urging an “in-house enquiry” to be conducted into the matter by a committee formed for the purpose.
The Bar Association of India has also condemned Justice Yadav’s remarks.
Past instances
In the history of the Supreme Court, impeachment proceedings have so far been initiated only four times, according to the Supreme Court Observer.
But it was in 2011 that Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta high court became the first judge to have been impeached by the Rajya Sabha for misconduct.
However, he avoided the fate of becoming the first judge to be impeached by parliament as he subsequently resigned five days before the Lok Sabha could take up his impeachment motion.
