New Delhi: Rajya Sabha will be converted into a court on Wednesday for its first impeachment proceeding against a judge as it takes up a motion against Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court.
The Upper House will make history when it initiates the process against the controversial judge who has been held guilty on corruption charges by a specially constituted committee.
The 53-year old Sen will be the second judge against whom impeachment proceedings will be initiated when Rajya Sabha takes up the motion.
The first such case involved the impeachment motion in Lok Sabha of Justice V Ramaswami of the Supreme Court in May 1993 which fell due to lack of numbers after Congress members abstained.
The discussion on the motion is likely to spill over to August 18 and the occasion is expected to be utilised by the Elders to express their views on judicial activism and overreach.
The first of the two grounds of misconduct against Sen being cited in the motion is misappropriation of large sums of money, which he received in his capacity as receiver appointed by the High Court.
The second ground is that he misrepresented facts with regard to the misappropriation of money before the High Court.
While CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury will move the motion, Parliament sources said the judge, accompanied by about five lawyers including Subhash Bhattacharya, will present his case before the Bar.
A 'bar' will be "posted" at the gate of the central aisle of the upper house facing the Chairman.
A rostrum and a chair will be placed for Sen or his counsel to present his case before the MPs. The bar is an indicator to show that a non-member or an "outsider" cannot enter the House when it is meeting.
Besides Yechury, the motion will also be moved by his party colleague Prasanta Chatterjee and Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley.
The issue of the impeachment proceedings was also deliberated upon on Tuesday at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
As the Upper House is meeting for a judicial function, parties have restrained from issuing whips to direct members to vote in favour or against the motion.
At the same time, Congress has issued a three-line whip to its members in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to be present.
Under the Constitution, a judge of a high court or the Supreme Court can be removed by the President by a motion adopted in both the Houses of Parliament by two-thirds majority of the members present and voting. This exercise has to be carried out in the same session.
Sen, who has been held guilty on corruption charges by a panel appointed by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari, will be given 90 minutes to present his case.
The Inquiry Committee comprised Justices B Sudershan Reddy, Mukul Mudgal and noted jurist Fali S Nariman.
After the motion is moved, Sen or his counsels will present the case and leave. A discussion on the motion will begin thereafter when the Rajya Sabha re-converts itself from being a court.
During the debate and subsequent voting, any minister who is not a member of the Rajya Sabha, will not be allowed to participate in the discussion or vote. Law Minister Salman Khurshid, a Lok Sabha member, "could be" the only exception and may speak during the proceedings.
With the impeachment proceedings scheduled on Wednesday, a meeting of the Opposition parties on Tuesday brushed aside suggestions for a three-day boycott of Parliament made by CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta. CPI(M) leader Yechury was against any such step.
There will be two motions to be moved by Yechury, Jaitley and Chatterjee.
The first one would read: "This House resolves that an address be presented to the President for removal from office of Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court" on the two grounds of misconduct.
The second motion's text reads: "This House do consider the report of Inquiry Committee in regard to the investigation and proof of the misbehaviour alleged against Soumitra Sen, High Court of Calcutta, which was laid on the table of the House on November 10, 2010".
If the motions are approved, a reference would be sent to the President "to pass an order for the removal of the said Soumitra Sen from his office as a Judge of the High Court at Calcutta."
If Justice Sen resigns before the Rajya Sabha takes up the impeachment proceedings, the motion will become infructuous.
Justice PD Dinakaran, Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court, against whom the Rajya Sabha Chairman had earlier set up a similar judicial panel to inquire into corruption charges, had resigned before the issue was taken up by the House.
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