After Vahanvati's view, Lok Sabha to hold impeachment process

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha will go ahead with the impeachment proceedings against Kolkata High Court judge Soumitra Sen as scheduled on Monday with the Attorney General Ghulam Vahanvati opining today that the process should continue as his resignation was conditional. With Justice Sen’s resignation to President Pratibha Patil on Thursday raising questions on the fate of these proceedings in the Lok Sabha, Attorney General G E Vahanvati is understood to have advised the government that it is too late to stop the process since it has already commenced. Vahanvati’s opinion has been validated by Law Minister Salman Khurshid, an official said. Highly placed said that Vahanvati has opined that “the impeachment motion against Justice Sen must go on as per the schedule in the Lok Sabha”.[caption id=“attachment_75658” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Justice Soumitra Sen. Image courtesy PTI”]  [/caption] The impeachment proceedings figures in the list of business to be taken up in the Lok Sabha on Monday. It is to be taken up at 2pm. There were hectic consultations at various levels in the government including at the level of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after Sen resigned. Sen(53) is accused of misappropriation of large sums of money, which he received in his capacity as receiver appointed by the Calcutta High Court and misrespresenting facts with regards to the misappropriation of money before the High Court. The impeachment motion against Sen was passed with an overwhelming majority by the Rajya Sabha on 18 August. The AG is believed to have told the government the process should continue as there should be no infirmity in law. Highly placed sources said the senior most law officer is of the view that all efforts made in the last two years to remove Justice Sen would go “waste” if the impeachment motion is not taken up in the Lower House. The Attorney General favoured that the motion be taken by the Lok Sabha as failure to go ahead with it in the current session of Parliament would make the passing of the motion in Rajya Sabha a futile exercise. “Impeachment motion has to be adopted by both the House in same session,” Vahanvati has reportedly said in his opinion to the Department of Justice to which President Pratibha Patil has referred the resignation of Justice Sen, five days before the Lok Sabha was to take up an impeachment motion against him. Sources said that Vahanvati has based his opinion by referring to Article 124 (4) of the Constitution dealing with the procedure for removal of judges of higher judiciary. He is understood to have said that Justice Sen should have resigned before the Rajya Sabha took up the impeachment proceedings. Besides, the government’s top law officer is learnt to have pointed out that since the resignation letter is ’not in proper format’, it could be rejected by the President and by stopping impeachment proceedings at this stage, would allow Justice Sen to continue. Informed sources said that the resignation of the judge could not be taken cognisance of as the letter has to be an original one written in the judge’s own handwriting. In Kolkata, Sen’s lawyer Subash Bhattacharya said the resignation letter in original has been signed by the judge and sent by courier to the President and Speaker Meira Kumar. Vahanvati is also learnt to have quoted some Supreme Court judgements in support of his opinion. As per procedure, both Houses of Parliament have to pass the motion in the same session, after which the address is sent to the President for removal from office of a Supreme Court or High Court judge found guilty of misconduct. In his letter to the President, Justice Sen has said that since Rajya Sabha has decided in its wisdom that he should not continue as a judge, he was resigning and wanted to live as a common citizen, Bhattacharya said. Impeachment proceedings followed motions moved by Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) and Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley after an Inquiry Committee, appointed by the Rajya Sabha Chairman and headed by Supreme Court Judge B Sudershan Reddy, held Sen guilty of misconduct. PTI