a letter 2 the CJI

Bhubaneswar
10^th September, 08

Respected the Chief Justice of India,

I am Satya Ranjan Swain, a student of 3^rd semester of B.A.LL.B (Hons.), KIIT Law School, Orissa. Sir, I was very much surprised when I got the news that the Chief Justice of India, in his August 4 letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has recommended impeachment of Justice Soumitra Sen of Calcutta High Court, who was found guilty of "misconduct" in an in-house inquiry. Now the Government is also planning to impeach him in the Parliament.

According to the Article 124 (4) of the Constitution, a Judge of a High Court can be impeached on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity. But Sir, as a poor student of constitutional law, I think this impeachment of the judge is not for the misconduct of a judge. This misconduct had happened when Justice Sen was an advocate. So, he should not be impeached. I agree that if someone is guilty, he should be punished. But, in this case, “impeachment” is not the way. Simply, he can be prosecuted.

I have no ill intention in writing this. This is only my opinion. As a responsible citizen and an interested student, to know law in this point, I feel writing this.

Waiting for your valuable answer

Thanking you!

Yours faithfully,

Satya Ranjan Swain

KIIT Law School,

KIIT University, Bhubaneswar.

This letter is checked by Prof. T. Devidas, Adjunct Professor of NLSIU