Supreme Court’s Approach to Addressing Errant Judges

Recently, the Supreme Court expressed concern over inappropriate remarks by Karnataka High Court Justice V Srishananda but dropped intervention following his apology. 

Background

• During a hearing, Karnataka High Court Justice Justice Srishananda had referred to a particular locality of Bengaluru as being “in Pakistan”. 
• In another hearing, he had made an “objectionable” comment against a female lawyer.
• Though the Supreme Court dropped its intervention, this situation highlights the constitutional limitations on how the judiciary can discipline judges.

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Impeachment: The Only Constitutional Recourse for Addressing Errant Judges

• Basis of Impeachment: The concept and procedure of impeachment of judges are laid down in the Constitution of India and the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968. 
• Impeachment: It is a process of removing a judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court from his or her office as mentioned in Article 124(4) and Article 218 of the Constitution.

• Initiation: The process begins with a signed motion by 100 members of the Lok Sabha or 50 members of the Rajya Sabha, which is submitted to the Speaker or Chairman respectively, as provided under the Judges (Inquiry) Act of 1968.
• Constitution of Inquiry Committee: Upon admittance of the motion, an inquiry committee is formed consisting of a Supreme Court judge, a High Court Chief Justice, and an eminent jurist. 
• Procedure: According to Article 124(4), a judge of the Supreme Court (or any High Court) can be removed from office only “by an order of the President 
  • passed after an address by each House of Parliament 
  • supported by a majority of the total membership of that House and 
  • by a majority of not less than two-third of the members of the House present and voting
  • has been presented to the President in the same session for such removal.
• Grounds of Impeachment: “Proven misbehaviour” or “incapacity” are the only two grounds for removal of a judge of the constitutional court. 
• History of Impeachment: Impeachment has been initiated only five times in history, including against: 
  • Justice V Ramaswami (SC, 1993), 
  • Justice Soumitra Sen (Calcutta High Court, 2011), 
  • Justice J B Pardiwala (Gujarat High Court, 2015), 
  • Justice C V Nagarjuna (High Court of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, 2017), and then 
  • CJI Justice Dipak Misra (2018).
  • The proceedings, however, have never been successful, although Justice Sen was impeached by Rajya Sabha and subsequently resigned.
• Challenges in Impeaching Judges
  • High Threshold for Removal: The high political consensus required to pass an impeachment and the narrow grounds for removal make impeachment rare.
  • Limited Grounds for Removal: Actions like indiscipline, petty corruption, bias, or questionable courtroom conduct, or like in the case of Justice Srishananda while serious, often fall short of impeachment standards or are hard to prove.

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Supreme Court’s Alternative Approaches

• Over the years the Supreme Court has developed alternative ways of discipling judges.
• Judicial Intervention: 
  • Judicial Intervention is action on the judicial side.
  • The SC can express serious concern or issue mild reproaches to judges for their conduct. 
    • Example:  current case of Justice V Srishananda.
  • As the court of last resort, the SC’s word is final and binding. This means that through judicial action, it can send a message to errant judges, even if such a power is not defined in the letter of the law.