Justice Sen's Impeachment must go on: AG

Attorney General G E Vahanvati on Friday recommended that impeachment motion to remove Justice Soumitra Sen as the judge of the Calcutta High Court must go on in the Lok Sabha despite his resignation.

Highly placed sources told mediapersons on Friday night that Vahanvati has opined that "the impeachment motion against Justice Sen must go on as per the schedule in the Lok Sabha."

They said the senior most law officer is of the view that all efforts made in the last two years to remove Justice Sen would go "waste" if the impeachment motion is not taken up in the Lower House.

The AG favoured that the motion be taken by the Lok Sabha as failure to go ahead with it in the current session of Parliament would make the passing of the motion in Rajya Sabha a futile exercise.

"Impeachment motion has to be adopted by both the House in same session," Vahanvati has reportedly said in his opinion to the Department of Justice to which President Pratibha Patil has referred the resignation of Justice Sen, five days before the Lok Sabha was to take up an impeachment motion against him. The Lower House is due to take up the motion on Monday next.

Sources said that Vahanvati has based his opinion by referring to Article 124 (4) of the Constitution dealing with the procedure for removal of judges of higher judiciary.