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However, the question remains whether the motion will find success, particularly
given the rigorous procedure laid down in Indian law for the removal of a judge.
The law on this aspect can be found in Articles 124 (4), (5), 217, and 218 of the
Constitution of India, and the provisions of the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 and
corresponding rules.
These provisions allow for removal of a Supreme Court or High Court judge on
grounds of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.
However, as it can be gauged from the following outline of the elaborate procedure
laid down for the same, it can be near impossible to prove the alleged misbehaviour or
incapacity of a judge for removal.
Removal proceedings against a judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court can be
initiated in either House of Parliament. For this, a notice of a motion to remove the
judge has to be signed,
If emanating from the Lok Sabha, by not less than one hundred members,
If emanating from the Rajya Sabha, by not less than fifty members.
Constitution of an Inquiry Committee
The motion has to then be admitted by the Speaker or Chairman, depending on the
House in which the motion is initiated.
However, this committee will not be formed if notices of motion to remove the judge is
admitted in both Houses of Parliament on the same day.
Following its investigation, the Inquiry Committee will record its findings in a formal
report. This has to be laid down by the Speaker/Chairman before the concerned House
of Parliament.
If the Inquiry Report finds the judge guilty, the motion for removal has to be put to
vote in both Houses of Parliament.
As per Article 124 (4) of the Constitution, in order to proceed further with the removal
of the judge, the motion has to be supported by
If the motion finds success in terms of Article 124(4), the motion is placed before the
President of India.
The removal of a judge can only be effected by an order passed by the President after
the presentation of this address.
Given the procedure involved, it is not surprising that no judge has been removed till
date in independent India. So far, six judges (excluding Justice Misra) have faced
attempts to have them removed from office.
Justice V Ramaswami, then Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, has
the dubious honour of being the first judge to have impeachment proceedings initiated
against him in 1991. Although the Inquiry Committee had found Justice Ramaswami
guilty on 11 out of 14 charges, the impeachment motion failed on account of
insufficient votes at the penultimate stage.
Proceedings initiated against Sikkim High Court Judge, PD Dinakaran in 2011, for
alleged judicial misconduct met with success up to the point of the constitution of an
Inquiry Committee. However, the removal was halted following Justice Dinakaran’s
resignation, on grounds of lack of faith and confidence in the impartiality of the
Inquiry Committee.
The furthest impeachment proceedings have been taken forward was against
Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court, for cited misappropriation of public
funds. Following the Inquiry Committee’s finding that Justice Sen was guilty, the
impeachment motion found overwhelming support in the Rajya Sabha. However, in
September 2011, Justice Sen resigned before the motion could be voted on in the Lok
Sabha.
In 2015, Justice JB Pardiwala of the Gujarat High Court ran into trouble after he
made certain ‘casteist’ remarks against reservation in a judgment. However, the
motion for impeachment lost steam after the judge removed the controversial remarks
from the judgment.