Context: The impeachment of Justice Yashwant Varma - the ex-Delhi High Court judge has begun after 145 MPs, from ruling and opposition parties, submitted a memorandum to the Lok Sabha Speaker. The Parliament has the jurisdiction to constitutionally remove a High Court judge.
Relevance of the Topic:Prelims: Key facts about Removal process of a Judge of High Court.
Removal process of a Judge of HC
- A judge of a High Court can be removed from his/her office by an order of the President. The President can issue the removal order only after an address by the Parliament has been presented to him/her in the same session for such removal.
- The address must be supported by a special majority of each House of the Parliament (i.e., a majority of the total membership of that House and majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting).
- The grounds for removal are two: proved misbehaviour or incapacity. Thus, a judge of a High Court can be removed in the same manner and on the same grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court.
The Judges Enquiry Act (1968) regulates the procedure relating to the removal of a judge of a High Court by the process of impeachment:
- A removal motion signed by 100 members (in the case of Lok Sabha) or 50 members (in the case of Rajya Sabha) is to be given to the Speaker/Chairman.
- The Speaker/Chairman may admit the motion or refuse to admit it.
- If it is admitted, then the Speaker/Chairman is to constitute a three-member committee to investigate the charges.
- The committee should consist of (a) the Chief Justice or a Judge of the Supreme Court, (b) Chief Justice of a High Court, and (c) a distinguished Jurist.
- If the committee finds the judge to be guilty of misbehaviour or suffering from an incapacity, the House can take up the consideration of the motion.
- After the motion is passed by each House of Parliament by a special majority, an address is presented to the President for removal of the judge.
- Finally, the President passes an order removing the judge.
The procedure for the impeachment of a judge of a High Court is the same as that for a judge of the Supreme Court. No judge of a High Court has been impeached so far.