More than 55 MPs from opposition in the Upper House, i.e. the Rajya Sabha filed a notice of impeachment against the Allahabad HC Judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav to the Secretary General of the House, regarding his controversial remarks about the Muslim community at an event which was organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
Kapil Sibal, also a MP in Rajya Sabha, a signatory of the notice for impeachment as well, stated that such judges disrespecting the Constitution of India after taking an oath, must be removed from their post.
What happened till now-
The motion was put forward a few days after the Supreme Court took cognizance of the reports regarding statements made by Justice Yadav in a speech delivered by him dated 8th December.
- According to the reports, Justice Yadav made some contentious statements about the Muslim community, UCC, and also the role of majority rule in India. There are video clips of the speech made by Justice Yadav, where he showing him using slurs allegedly, as well as mention that the country must function in accordance to the wishes of majority.
- The speech included comments including, “This is Hindustan, and this country would function as per the wishes of the ‘bahusankhyak’ [majority],” as well as references to practices of triple talaq and halala, which must not be allowed.
Removal of Judges- What Does the Law Say?
- As provided under Article 124(4) of the Constitution, a Judge could be removed from office based on the grounds of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.
- The term “misbehavior” mentioned above would include such actions which undermine judicial ethics, impartiality, and affecting public trust in the judiciary.
Response from Justice Yadav
The Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, Justice Arun Bhansali, sought response from Justice Yadav over his speech at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad event. In reply, Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav said that he stands by his remarks, which according to him were not violative of any of the principles of judicial conduct.
Previous cases of Impeachment:-
- In 1993, a motion for impeachment was brought in the Lok Sabha against V Ramaswami, which failed to secure required two-third majority in the house.
- In the year 2011, Rajya Sabha passed the motion for impeachment against Soumitra Sen from Calcutta High Court for misconduct, who was the first judge against whom the motion for impeachment was passed in the Upper House, however before the motion could be passed in the Lok Sabha, he resigned.
- Again in the year 2011, proceedings were initiated to remove Sikkim High Court Judge, PD Dinakaran, on the grounds of alleged judicial misconduct, however the proceeding were halted after his resignation.
- In the year 2015, a few MPs in the Upper House moved a motion for the removal of Gujarat High Court judge JB Pardiwala after he made some “objectionable remarks on the issue of reservation”, the motion was not followed up after the objectionable statement was removed from the judgement by the respective Judge.
- In 2017, MPs from the Rajya Sabha moved a motion initiating the impeachment proceedings against CV Nagarjuna Reddy of the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana High Court.
- In March 2018, a proposal was drafted by the opposition parties for an impeachment motion against the then CJI Dipak Misra.
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