{"id":43972,"date":"2024-12-11T12:16:28","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T06:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=43972"},"modified":"2025-05-06T07:17:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T01:47:28","slug":"judicial-ethics-and-conduct","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/judicial-ethics-and-conduct\/","title":{"rendered":"Judicial Ethics and Conduct"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in News?<\/li>\n<li>Controversial Remarks of Allahabad HC Judge and Backlash<\/li>\n<li>Judicial Ethics and Conduct<\/li>\n<li>The Impeachment Process for Judges<\/li>\n<li>Conclusion<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court has faced widespread criticism for comments made during an event organised by the legal cell of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Controversial Remarks and Backlash:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Key comments:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Justice Yadav stated that the country operates as per the wishes of the majority population in India.<\/li>\n<li>He made divisive remarks comparing values taught to children of different communities, emphasising the practice of animal slaughter.<\/li>\n<li>Advocated for a Uniform Civil Code (<strong>UCC<\/strong>), asserting that Hindus revere women as goddesses, in contrast to practices like polygamy and triple talaq in another community.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Response from legal and civil bodies:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Supreme Court\u2019s reaction:<\/strong>\u00a0The SC noted the issue and\u00a0<strong>sought details from the Allahabad HC<\/strong>, stating the matter is under consideration.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Criticism from legal fraternity:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>All India Lawyers Union termed the comments as\u00a0<strong>leaning towards a &#8220;Hindutva Rashtra.&#8221;<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Prashant Bhushan\u2019s Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms alleged<strong>\u00a0violations of judicial ethics.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Kapil Sibal, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, called for Justice Yadav\u2019s\u00a0<strong>impeachment<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Judicial Ethics and Conduct:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Standards for judicial conduct:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>1985 UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary:\u00a0<\/strong>These principles seek to bridge the gap between ideal judicial independence and real-world practices, ensuring that &#8211;\n<ul>\n<li>Justice is upheld,<\/li>\n<li>Human rights are preserved, and<\/li>\n<li>The court acts without discrimination.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Restatement of values of judicial life (1997):<\/strong>\u00a0It is a code of judicial ethics (comprising 16 points) adopted by the SC. It emphasises impartiality and behaviour that reaffirms public confidence in the judiciary.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bangalore principles of judicial conduct (2002):<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The UN Economic and Social Council (<strong>ECOSOC<\/strong>) adopted a resolution to complement the 1985 UN Basic Principles.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It requires judges to act with dignity, impartiality, and independence while respecting societal diversity.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alleged violations:\u00a0<\/strong>Justice Yadav\u2019s remarks and participation in a politically affiliated event appear to contravene these codes, undermining the judiciary\u2019s perceived neutrality.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>The Impeachment Process for Judges:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Constitutional provisions:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>A judge may be removed from office through a motion adopted by Parliament on grounds of\u00a0<strong>\u2018proven misbehaviour or incapacity\u2019.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>While the Constitution does not use the word \u2018impeachment\u2019, it is commonly used to refer to the proceedings under\u00a0<strong>Article 124<\/strong>\u00a0(for the removal of a SC judge) and<strong>\u00a0Article 218<\/strong>\u00a0(for the removal of a HC judge).<\/li>\n<li>The Constitution provides that a judge can be\u00a0<strong>removed only by an order of the President<\/strong>, based on a motion passed by both Houses of Parliament.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>The procedure for removal of judges:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It is elaborated in\u00a0<strong>the Judges Inquiry Act, 1968<\/strong>, which sets out the steps for removal from office.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Impeachment requires a special majority\u00a0<\/strong>(a majority of the total membership of that House; and a majority of at least two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting)<strong>\u00a0in Parliament.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>In-house procedure:\u00a0<\/strong>Established in 1999 and publicly released in 2014. Steps include:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Submission of a complaint to the President<\/strong>, Chief Justice of India (CJI), or High Court Chief Justice.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Inquiry by a fact-finding committee<\/strong>\u00a0comprising senior judges if allegations are serious.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Recommendation<\/strong>\u00a0for voluntary retirement or escalation to impeachment if the judge refuses to step down.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Conclusion:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav\u2019s controversial remarks have r<strong>eignited discussions on judicial accountability and ethics.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The case underscores<strong>\u00a0the importance of impartiality in the judiciary and adherence to established codes of conduct.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The judiciary\u2019s response<\/strong>\u00a0will be pivotal in\u00a0<strong>maintaining public trust and upholding constitutional principles.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q.1. What is the Uniform Civil Code?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>According to Article 44 of the DPSP, the state shall endeavour to secure for all citizens a Civil Code that is uniform throughout the territory of India. The framework for a single, cohesive set of personal laws that would apply to all citizens, regardless of their faith, is provided in this article.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q.2. What is the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The ECOSOC is one of the 6 principal organs of the UN, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organisation, specifically in regards to the 15 specialised agencies, the 8 functional commissions, and the 5 regional commissions under its jurisdiction.<\/p>\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/the-code-of-conduct-judges-need-to-follow\/article68970576.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The code of conduct judges need to follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav\u2019s controversial remarks have reignited discussions on judicial accountability and ethics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":43973,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-43972","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}