Subhas Chandra Pattanayak
A noteworthy section of MPs have tried to ignite a position for impeachment of the Chief Justice of India Deepak Mishra on grounds mentioned in their signed notice to the Chair of Rajya Sabha.
The very situation that gives birth to contemplation of impeachment, such as this, is indicative of a serious syndrome that has afflicted the country’s plain faith on integrity of judges, who, by virtue of their positions, become known to the entire population overnight. To what extent lower judiciary is corrupt and compromising is anybody’s guess.
But the present set of allegations against the incumbent CJI is not meant to correct his manners or to impeach him for his proven involvement in any particular matter that generally injures the image of judiciary. it seems the attempt is prompted by denigrators of Deepak Mishra, whom his heading the Apex Court is somewhat irritating. The inferiority complex of certain anti-Oriya elements might also have a role in this use of parliamentary privileges.
If the law makers are really interested to impeach the CJI for his fault, they must include the real fault for which he should be censored. And that fault is: His inaction in dealing with the pending allegation of a former Law Minister of India , who himself is a great practitioner of law – Shanti Bhushan – that CJIs such as Justices Ranganath Mishra, K N Singh, M H Kania, L M Sharma, M N Venkatachalliah, A M Ahmadi, J S Verma, M M Punchhi, A S Anand, S P Bharucha, B N Kirpal, G B Patnaik, Rajendra Babu, R C Lahoti, V N Khare and Y K Sabharwal were indulged in corruption – eight of them definitely – while acting as judges. Bhushan’s allegations are pending before the CJI (as and when one is) since 2010. By not rejecting the allegation as baseless or not by accepting the allegation as correct through proper adjudication to the satisfaction of Indian public, like his predecessors, Justice Deepak Mishra is certainly guilty of dereliction in duty and deserves impeachment.
Why the impeachment notice is silent on this? Is the team of law makers considering impeachment as a matter of joke?