Polity

KEY POINTS

·        Impeachment literally means being charged for misconduct.

·        Under the constitution, judges of the Supreme Court and high courts can only be removed after being charged with "proven misconduct and incapacity” by the president of India on a motion adopted in both houses of parliament by two-thirds majority.

·        Nowadays, impeachment is often used as a political tool to intimidate judges to alter verdicts in someone’s favour.

Recent example

·        Leaders of Opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha have moved to begin the process of impeaching the incumbent Chief Justice of India.

·        The charges against CJI certainly deserve to be answered.

·        But, by moving for impeachment knowing full well that the charges are insufficient and with a feeble support for the motion to succeed, the Opposition is simply seeking to punish the judge through humiliation and aims to damage his reputation.

Only as Last resort

·        A fearless judge is the bedrock of an independent judiciary.

·        If a judge fears that his rulings, if unpopular with a slice of the political class, will cause him to have to endure impeachment proceedings, then the entire structure of judicial independence will be undermined.

·        In a perception-driven world, the incalculable damage that even a mere admission of an impeachment motion can cause, and the consequential loss of reputation, that can never be redeemed.

·        Moreover, till the proceedings conclude, the functioning of the judge concerned comes under a cloud and even an ultimate exoneration cannot give him or her back the enormous loss of honour.

·        This is quite apart from the incalculable damage the process itself causes to the institution of the judiciary.

·        Impeachment threatens to disturb the delicate relationship between the legislature and the judiciary.

·        It will complicate questions of judicial independence and the public estimation of judicial probity.

·        For this reason, the step should have been taken only as a last resort, and with no political payoff.

Way forward

·        A corrupt judge should be impeached without doubt.

·        But, it must also be ensured that the large body of independent judges are protected and they are not inhibited and shackled with any possible threat of an impeachment looming large.