From sexual harassment to jail-corruption, when did the justice get embroiled in controversies?
Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Verma is facing investigation after unaccounted half-burnt notes were found in his government residence. Judicial work has been withdrawn from him. Along with this, Justice Verma has been transferred to his original court Allahabad High Court. However, Allahabad High Court Bar Association has announced an indefinite strike in protest against the collegium’s decision to send Justice Verma to Allahabad High Court.
This is not the first time that a judge has been embroiled in such a controversy. There have been controversies regarding judges from the High Court to the Supreme Court. Let us find out when judges have been embroiled in controversies.
Corruption and sexual harassment allegations
It was in the year 1993, when impeachment proceedings were initiated against Supreme Court judge Justice V Ramaswami on charges of corruption. However, the impeachment motion brought in the Lok Sabha failed to secure a two-thirds majority. Former Chief Justice of India Justice Ranjan Gogoi also came into controversy in the year 2019, when a former staff of the Supreme Court accused him of sexual harassment.
Although the in-house investigation gave him a clean chit, it was criticized for lack of transparency. After this, questions were also raised on the government making the former Chief Justice a Rajya Sabha candidate immediately after his retirement in the year 2020. This also raised concerns about the independence of the judiciary.
Allegations of financial and official abuse
In 2011, the Rajya Sabha found Justice Soumitra Sen, a judge of the Calcutta High Court, guilty of financial misappropriation and an impeachment motion was initiated against him in the Upper House. However, by the time the impeachment proceedings began in the Lok Sabha, Justice Sen had resigned from his post. Similarly, in 2016, Justice Nagarjuna Reddy, a judge of the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana High Court, was accused of misusing his position to target a Dalit judge. 61 members of the Rajya Sabha had moved an impeachment motion against him. However, later nine of these members withdrew their signatures from the motion for action.
High Court judges have gone to jail
The first case of sending a sitting judge of a High Court to jail came to light in Bengal, when Justice CS Karnan, a judge of the Calcutta High Court, was sent to jail for making comments against the judiciary. He was sent to jail for six months. Justice Karnan had termed the collegium system as autocratic.
In 2015, 58 Rajya Sabha MPs gave a notice of impeachment against Justice JB Pardiwala, a judge of the Gujarat High Court, because he had made objectionable remarks on the issue of reservation. He had made this remark in a case related to Patidar leader Hardik Patel. However, within a few hours of giving the notice of impeachment to the then Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Hamid Ansari, the judge had removed that remark from his decision.
She made headlines by commenting on marriage
This was in the year 2012. Justice Bhaktavatsal, a judge of the Karnataka High Court, had commented in the case of a woman who had filed for divorce from her physically abusive husband that all women face problems in marriage. Retired Supreme Court judge Justice Markandey Katju was ordered to appear in person and give clarification for commenting on a similar case in his blog.
There were also allegations of judicial misconduct
In 2020, while in office, Supreme Court judge Justice Arun Mishra had raised a controversy over the impartiality of the entire judiciary by calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a visionary leader. Then, by giving a verdict in favour of the government in a land acquisition case, he once again had to face allegations of judicial bias. In 2018, opposition parties had moved an impeachment motion against former Supreme Court Chief Justice Justice Deepak Mishra on charges of judicial misconduct. However, this motion was rejected. Justice Deepak Mishra’s name had also cropped up in the allegations made in the Prasad Medical College bribery case.
Allegations were made against the Chief Justice by holding a press conference
In the year 2018, a huge controversy erupted in the judiciary when four Supreme Court judges Justice J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph held a press conference. In this, it was alleged that the Chief Justice allocates cases unfairly in favour of the government.
