New Delhi:
In a historic first, the Rajya Sabha today voted in favour of impeaching Calcutta High Court judge Justice Soumitra Sen, finding him guilty of misappropriating funds as a judge and of misrepresenting facts.
In what were also the first televised impeachment proceedings ever, the Upper House voted 189 to 17 in favour of Justice Sen's removal. The motion was first passed by voice vote and then through division. The Judge is now two steps away from impeachment.
"I am extremely shocked as well as disappointed," Justice Sen told NDTV on the phone after he returned to Kolkata from Delhi today.
However, Justice Sen says he is not going to give up. "This is a battle for me and I will fight it to the hill. It is better to take a bullet on your chest rather than on your back. I am convinced on facts in law that I have a very strong case and there is absolutely no question of misappropriation (of funds)," Justice Sen said.
(Watch: I will not resign to my fate, says Justice Sen)Since the motion was passed by more than two-thirds of the members present and voting in the Rajya Sabha, it will now go to the Lok Sabha within a week. If the Lower House too approves the motion by a two-thirds majority of the members present and in the same session, the motion would go to the President, who can order the removal of the judge from office. However, if the Lok Sabha fails to approve the motion within the current Monsoon session, then Justice Sen will survive this move for impeachment.
Almost all major parties, including the ruling Congress, are supporting the motion for Justice Sen's impeachment, which was moved in the Rajya Sabha by CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury. The only significant voice of protest has been that of the Bahujan Samaj Party. The Lok Sabha vote, thus, is seen as a formality.
A special committee constituted by Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari had found charges of financial irregularities against Justice Sen to be correct. He is accused of misappropriating nearly Rs. 24 lakh in the 1980s when he was a lawyer and was appointed receiver by the Calcutta High Court.
Earlier today, Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley tore into Justice Soumitra Sen's defence, saying that the latter had misled the House. The 53-year-old judge had claimed that he was being made a "sacrificial lamb" while facing impeachment proceedings in the Rajya Sabha yesterday.
Mr Jaitley, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, supported the motion moved by CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury for Justice Sen's removal and said that he had gone through the entire evidence in the judge's case and found it to be in tandem with the inquiry that proved misappropriation of funds by Justice Sen.
(Watch: Justice Sen misled the House, says Arun Jaitley)Expressing concern over questions being raised on conduct of some judges, Mr Jaitley suggested revisiting the process of their appointment and favoured a National Judicial Commission to ensure selection of those with strong integrity.
"The system of judges alone appointing judges must now change. India needs a National Judicial Commission to appoint judges," Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley said, resuming the debate in the Rajya Sabha on impeachment motions against Calcutta High Court Judge Justice Soumitra Sen.
He said the commission's members can be drawn from the judiciary and executive, besides prominent citizens. At present judges are appointed by a collegium of judges.
Justice Sen of the Calcutta High Court had, in a 90-minute defence, yesterday asserted that he was not guilty of financial irregularities and the allegations of misconduct and misappropriation of funds against him were aimed at victimising him in a pre-determined move.
(Read: I am being made a scapegoat, says Justice Soumitra Sen)A special committee constituted by Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari had found charges of financial irregularities against Justice Sen to be correct. He is accused of misappropriating nearly Rs. 24 lakh in the 1990s when he was a lawyer and was appointed receiver by the Calcutta High Court.