Short Takes
Yet Another Judicial Scam
It has become a distressing pattern: every few months the country is being treated to a judicial scandal more serious than the previous one, writes Mohammed Ataur Rahman
The country had been reeling under the impact of disclosures of some judges from UP accused of misconduct when the Supreme Court came up with another stunner in August. Chief Justice KG Balkrishnan wrote to the Prime Minister that Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court be removed from the judiciary for misconduct.
Justice Sen was accused of misappropriating Rs. 32 lakh as the court-appointed receiver in 1993 in a law suit between Steel Authority of India and Shipping Corporation of India. Following a three-judge inquiry committee's finding that Justice Sen (a lawyer in 1993) had put the money in his personal account, instead of keeping the money in a bank of his choice for safe custody, the CJI made the recommendation.
The three-judge committee saw no reason in Sen keeping the money. SAIL challenged Sen and he was asked to pay the money with interest, which he has already done. He has not been allotted work for the last several months. The Prime Minister's Office has referred the case to the Ministry of Law and Justice.
The next move could be impeachment proceedings in Parliament as that is the only way of getting rid of a judge. Does all this still require comment? g