{"id":45509,"date":"2025-03-25T06:26:44","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T00:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=45509"},"modified":"2025-05-06T20:56:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T15:26:13","slug":"judiciarys-in-house-inquiry-process-removal-of-judges-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/judiciarys-in-house-inquiry-process-removal-of-judges-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Judiciary\u2019s In-House Inquiry: Process &#038; Removal of Judges Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in Today\u2019s Article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Judiciary\u2019s in-house inquiry Latest News<\/li>\n<li>Removal of a Judge in India<\/li>\n<li>In-House Procedure for Judicial Accountability<\/li>\n<li>Judiciary\u2019s In-House Inquiry FAQs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Judiciary\u2019s in-house inquiry Latest News<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna has initiated an unprecedented three-member in-house inquiry into Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma following allegations that bundles of cash were found at his residence after a fire on March 14.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The inquiry, distinct from the constitutional impeachment process, will be conducted by Chief Justices Sheel Nagu (Punjab &amp; Haryana HC), G S Sandhawalia (Himachal Pradesh HC), and Justice Anu Sivaraman (Karnataka HC).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Removal of a Judge in India<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Constitutional Provision<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The process for the removal of a Supreme Court judge is outlined in Article 124(4) of the Indian Constitution.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Article 218 extends the same provisions to High Court judges.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Grounds for Removal<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>A judge can only be removed on two grounds:\n<ul>\n<li>Proved misbehaviour<\/li>\n<li>Incapacity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Impeachment Process<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The removal process requires an impeachment motion in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.<\/li>\n<li>At least two-thirds of members present and voting must approve it.<\/li>\n<li>The number of votes in favour must exceed 50% of the total membership of each House.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Final Approval<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>If Parliament approves the motion, the President issues an order for the judge\u2019s removal.<\/li>\n<li>If Parliament is dissolved or its term ends, the impeachment motion fails.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>In-House Procedure for Judicial Accountability<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Origins of the In-House Procedure<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Complaints against judges are not limited to Parliament. The CJI or a High Court CJ may also examine them.<\/li>\n<li>The need for an internal mechanism arose in 1995, after financial impropriety allegations against Bombay HC CJ A M Bhattacharjee.<\/li>\n<li>The SC, in C. Ravichandran Iyer v. Justice A.M. Bhattacharjee (1995), highlighted a <strong>gap between bad behaviour and impeachable misbehaviour under Article 124<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>A five-member committee was formed to create an internal process for addressing judicial misconduct.<\/li>\n<li>The committee submitted its report in October 1997, and the SC adopted it in December 1999.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Revisions in 2014<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In 2014, a sexual harassment complaint by a Madhya Pradesh judge led the SC to refine the in-house procedure in Additional District and Sessions Judge \u2018X\u2019 v. Registrar General High Court of Madhya Pradesh.<\/li>\n<li>Justices J S Khehar and Arun Mishra outlined a seven-step process.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Process for Handling Complaints<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Receiving the Complaint<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Complaints may be made to the CJI, a HC CJ, or the President of India.<\/li>\n<li>The HC CJ or President forwards the complaint to the CJI.<\/li>\n<li>The CJI may dismiss the complaint if it is deemed not serious.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Preliminary Inquiry<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The CJI may seek a report from the HC CJ concerned.<\/li>\n<li>If the HC CJ recommends a deeper probe, the CJI reviews the report and judge\u2019s statement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Formation of an Inquiry Committee<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The CJI may form a three-member committee, including:\n<ul>\n<li>Two High Court Chief Justices<\/li>\n<li>One High Court Judge<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The committee follows natural justice principles and gives the judge an opportunity to explain.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Inquiry and Report Submission<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The committee submits a report to the CJI, stating whether:<\/li>\n<li>The allegations have merit.<\/li>\n<li>The misconduct warrants removal proceedings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Post-Inquiry Actions<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>If the misconduct is not serious, the CJI may advise the judge and place the report on record.<\/li>\n<li>If the misconduct is serious, the CJI advises the judge to resign or retire.<\/li>\n<li>If the judge refuses, the CJI directs the HC CJ to stop assigning judicial work.<\/li>\n<li>If the judge still does not resign, the CJI informs the President and PM, recommending removal proceedings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Current Relevance<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In Justice Yashwant Varma\u2019s case, CJI Sanjiv Khanna has already directed Delhi HC CJ D K Upadhyaya to stop assigning him judicial work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Judiciary\u2019s In-House Inquiry FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1.<\/strong> What is the judiciary\u2019s in-house inquiry?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> It is an internal process to examine judicial misconduct, separate from the constitutional impeachment procedure.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2.<\/strong> What are the grounds for a judge\u2019s removal in India?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> A judge can be removed only for proved misbehaviour or incapacity, as per Article 124(4).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q3.<\/strong> How does the in-house inquiry process work?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> It involves a three-member committee investigating allegations and recommending actions, including resignation or impeachment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q4.<\/strong> What happens if a judge refuses to resign?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> The CJI may stop assigning them work and inform the President and PM to initiate removal proceedings.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q5.<\/strong> How does impeachment of judges take place in India?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> Parliament must approve it with a two-thirds majority in both houses, after which the President issues the removal order.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-law\/explained-how-the-judiciary-in-house-inquiry-against-justice-yashwant-varma-will-work-9904141\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Explore India\u2019s judiciary in-house inquiry process and the constitutional procedure for removing judges, ensuring accountability and judicial integrity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":45511,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-45509","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\/45509","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=45509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}