Soumitra Sen second judge to be impeached by Parliament

The impeachment proceedings against Judge Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court, which began in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, is the first-ever in the Upper House and second in the history of Parliament.

The first such case involved the impeachment motion in the Lok Sabha of Judge V Ramaswami of the Supreme Court in May 1993, which fell due to lack of numbers after Congress members abstained. Incidentally, Union minister Kapil Sibal had presented the case of Ramaswami before the Lower House.

Judge P D Dinakaran, Chief Justice of the Sikkim high court, against whom the Rajya Sabha chairman had set up a judicial panel to enquire into allegations of corruption, had resigned on July 29 this year, before an impeachment could be initiated against him.

 

Unlike Ramaswami, Sen presented his case personally, backed by two lawyers. Sen is facing impeachment on two grounds of misconduct and the motions against him are of misappropriation of large sums of money, which he received in his capacity as a receiver appointed by the high court, besides misrepresentation of facts.