Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court has tendered his resignation letter to the President to avoid being the first judge to be impeached by the Parliament. Justice Sen was due to face the impeachment proceedings in Lok Sabha on September 5. Bar & Bench had earlier reported about impeachment of Justice Sen by the Rajya Sabha.

In his letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker Justice Sen said: “There is no complaint against me even today regarding my conduct as a Judge while discharging my judicial functions or my conduct as a judge outside the Court. I am not guilty of any form of corruption, there is no allegation against me that I am guilty of passing any order or judgment for extraneous consideration or that I have abused my power in any way so that my family or relatives or acquaintances have amassed wealth, but sadly I am still facing a motion for impeachment.”

Explaining the reasons for his resignation, Justice Sen in the letter says, “Honestly and humbly I apprehend that as Hon'ble Members of Rajya Sabha of different parties have already expressed their views and I feel that it may not be reasonable for me to take the time of this August House for my defense, and also in view of the fact that I am being allotted a fixed time which I respectfully submit is inadequate, for properly making my submission before the Hon'ble House and also in view of the fact that I shall have no chance of rebuttal in respect of the submission that will be made by Hon'ble members in my absence in House, it may not be proper for me to take the time of the House further as it appears to be a foregone conclusion.”

Speaking to PTI about the resignation former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee said, “I am very sad today to learn that Justice Sen has resigned. Justice was denied to him and this is unprecedented and there is no prior example of it in India. The entire procedure adopted by former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan and the Rajya Sabha were against natural justice and the Constitution”. He termed the resignation as “a very sad day for the India judiciary.”

It has to be seen whether the Lok Sabha can go ahead with the impeachment proceedings as Justice Soumitra Sen has resigned.

Bar & Bench spoke to people at the Bar as well as Academicians on the impeachment and this is what they had to say:

Ananth Padmanabhan, an NLSIU alumnus currently practising at the Madras High Court said, “The only punishment is impeachment or resignation in cases of judicial corruption. In the case of a central government employee, the disciplinary proceedings will continue even if the person resigns and then there will be an assessment of what is the guilt involved and accordingly, there will be punishment. While the punishment is absent in the case of Judges. Resignation is like an end of the process.”

Speaking about Justice Sen’s contention that his conduct as a Judge was not in question and that of a receiver was in question, Padmanabhan said, “He is unfit to be a judge in the first phase itself, so the impeachment on that basis would not be improper.” On asking, if former CJI K.G. Balakrishnan had taken double standards in the cash at door scam and the case of Justice Soumitra Sen, Padmanabhan said, “If it had been taken, it is rather unfortunate. But the point is that does not absolve him of his actions.”

Padmanabhan further talking on Supreme Court’s administrative powers over the High Court said as an appointing authority CJI K.G. Balakrishnan can recommend the impeachment and it is not the case of Supreme Court exercising administrative powers over the High Court.

Murali Krishnan, Associate at a leading law firm in Mumbai said, “The impeachment is moved surely with vested interests. Questions are left unanswered like the validity of judgment of the Division Bench, if the Supreme Court has administrative powers over the High Court, if the former CJI was proper in conducting the “so called deeper probe” since he was not satisfied with the judgment of the Division Bench. All these when read together will give an impression someone had already made up his mind to get Justice Sen impeached.”

Rashid M.A., Academician and Chief Mentor at Answeringlaw said, “It was a surprise decision. If his conscience was clear as he stated in the Rajya Sabha, he should have fought his case up to the last forum. Further the fact that his conduct as a judge was not in question and also the claim that double standards were adopted by the ex CJI will not help him to escape from the wrongs he has committed.”

If the Lok Sabha goes ahead with the impeachment and President accepts the resolution in this session of the Parliament, then Justice Sen would be the first Indian Judge to be impeached.

Full Text of Justice Sen's Letter to Lok Sabha Speaker