New Delhi/Kolkata, Sep 1 (IANS) With the resignation of Justice Soumitra Sen – against whom the Rajya Sabha has passed an impeachment resolution – throwing up new legal issues, the final decision will be taken by the president and the Lok Sabha speaker, constitutional experts said.
‘The president will have to verify whether the resignation is not motivated by the desire to quit, but to seek a respite from the punishment (impeachment),’ former Lok Sabha secretary general Subash Kashyap told IANS.
Sen sent his resignation letter Thursday to President Pratibha Patil with a copy to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, his lawyer Subhash Bhattacharya said in Kolkata.
The Lok Sabha was scheduled to take up the impeachment proceedings against Sen Sep 5.
Kashyap said the impeachment proceedings will become infructous if the president accepts the resignation after verifying different legal and constitutional aspects.
‘She also has to verify whether the resignation letter is bona fide and in the required form,’ he added.
Supreme Court lawyer Ranji Thomas said that Sen’s resignation has ‘thrown up new issues of law’ and the speaker and the president will thoroughly examine the validity of the resignation.
‘One issue which will be examined by the Lok Sabha speaker is whether Justice Sen had the right to resign when the process of impeachment is half-way. If he had to resign, he could have done it earlier.’
‘Some of the issues which will come up is whether the resignation at the this stage is a expression of arrogance instead of respect for law and whether it is a clever ploy to evade impeachment,’ he added.
With just three days left before the Lok Sabha takes up for discussion the impeachment resolution, it is to be watched whether the presdent will take a quick decision, he said.
As per the provisions of the constitution, the impeachment resolution has to be approved by both houses of parliament in the same session. The current monsoon session is scheduled to conclude Sep 8.
Meanwhile, Archana Datta, spokesperson for the President’s Office, told IANS that the resignation has not been received yet.
Asked what led him to resign, Bhattacharya said in Kolkata: ‘He (Sen) had not expected the voting pattern in the Rajya Sabha to go that way (in favour of his impeachment). The voting pattern in the Lok Sabha will be the same. He resigned as he has a right to resign.’
‘But our fight has not ended. We still have the option to move the court,’ he added.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat had informed Justice Sen about the scheduled proceedings and asked him to appear at 3 p.m. Sep 5 to present his case before the house.
Now that Justice Sen has resigned, the Lok Sabha cannot proceed with impeachment motion against him.
On Aug 18, the Rajya Sabha moved the impeachment motion and it was adopted with 189 members voting in favour and 17 against it.
Justice Sen is only the second judge to face such proceedings. Subject to the motion being passed by the lower house, Justice Sen would have become the country’s first judge whose removal had been sought by parliament for misconduct.
Justice Sen, then an advocate, was held guilty of misappropriating Rs.33.23 lakh in a 1983 case, while he was appointed a receiver by the high court.
He denied the allegations during his hearing in the Rajya Sabha.
