NEW DELHI: Slamming the opposition for its notice seeking removal of
CJI Dipak Misra and accusing
Congress of partnering with “institution disruptors” and intimidating the judiciary, finance minister
Arun Jaitley said the rift within the judiciary could also be a threat to judicial independence.
While he dubbed the opposition’s move a “revenge petition” triggered by the Supreme Court’s refusal to order an independent probe into the death of judge B H Loya, Jaitley said, “ If intimidatory tactics of institution disruptors and impeachment motion are threats to judicial independence, the single greatest threat is the divided court itself.”
He referred to the January 12 presser by four seniormost SC judges and said the unprecedented event where the CJI was accused of acting arbitrarily in assigning key cases, such as that of the allegedly mysterious death of Loya, was what gave the opening for political parties to bring the notice for the CJI’s removal.
“The four judges who held the controversial presser are all experienced judges and, in my view, men of high integrity. Did they check up the facts of judge Loya case before commenting on it, even though only as a listing issue? Should anyone at all be commenting on a pending case because many comments have created an environment of prejudice and even added credibility to utter falsehood as they did in the present case? Is the impeachment motion filed today a direct result of the press conference? Does this impeachment set a precedent that political parties in India will use impeachment as an instrument to intimidate judges hearing controversial matters?” Jaitley wrote in his blog.
“What has happened today is a price the Indian judiciary has to pay for misadventures of many. There is no better time for judicial statesmanship and political foresight,” he wrote, slamming the report alleging foul play in Loya’s death as “fake news” where falsehood was generated to trigger a public controversy.
He said while the Constitution provided for removal of a judge of the SC or HCs for either “incapacity” or “proven misconduct”, the grounds mentioned in the opposition’s notice against
CJI Misra were “stale, trivial and have nothing to do with judicial functions”. Jaitley further said, “Trivialising the use of the power (of impeachment) is a dangerous event.
It is not difficult to collect fifty signatures of Rajya Sabha or hundred signatures of
Lok Sabha members on frivolous issues. To use the power as intimidatory tactics when neither you have a case of ‘proven misconduct’ or the numbers on your side, is a serious threat to judicial independence.”
