New Delhi, August 16
Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court will become the second judge in the history of India to face impeachment proceedings for misbehaviour tomorrow when Parliament will take up the impeachment motion against him.

A Parliamentary Committee in November had found him guilty of misappropriating Rs 33,22,800 that he received as Receiver appointed by the high court in 1984 and misrepresenting facts in respect of this misrepresentation to the high court.

Under Article 124 (4) of the Constitution, judges, chief justices of the Supreme Court and high courts can only be removed following impeachment on grounds of proven misbehaviour or incapacity.

The motion to impeach Justice Sen will be moved by CPM leader Sitaram Yechury in the Rajya Sabha at 3 pm tomorrow after which the judge will get 90 minutes for his defence. He is likely to come with four lawyers.

The motion, notified in the bulletin of the Rajya Sabha, has to be taken up on an urgent basis to prevent it from lapsing. As per the rules of impeachment, any motion for the purpose, once notified, must be disposed of by both the Houses of Parliament in the same session for it to stay alive.

“All Opposition parties and the government have agreed to take up the motion tomorrow. I will move the motion after which the judge will speak. He will then withdraw from the House and members will debate the motion before putting it to vote. The Rajya Sabha will tomorrow become the Bar,” Yechury said.

This business will happen notwithstanding the government-Opposition standoff today over Anna Hazare’s arrest.

The only other impeachment motion ever moved earlier was the one in the Lok Sabha in 1991 against V Ramaswami, former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He was defended by Kapil Sibal and the motion defeated after the Congress abstained from voting. Any impeachment motion, to be adopted, must be voted by two-third majority of members voting and half the strength of the House.

The resolution for impeaching Justice Sen was signed and moved in 2009 by 58 members of the Rajya Sabha after which Chairman Hamid Ansari constituted a three-member inquiry committee to probe charges.

The panel headed by Justice B Sudershan Reddy of the Supreme Court, Justice Mukul Mudgal, former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and eminent jurist Fali S Nariman found the judge guilty of the two charges they framed - misappropriation of funds as Receiver and misrepresentation of facts later before the High Court.

The committee had rejected Justice Sen’s plea that he had a right to be silent in the matter. “The investigation has raised a significant question …. whether a Judge whose conduct is under investigation has the right to remain silent. The submission that Justice Sen had the right to remain silent is untenable and fallacious,” the panel held. Under this Act, a complaint against a Judge has to be made through a resolution either by 100 members of the Lok Sabha or 50 Rajya Sabha members.