Justice Ramana will be the 48th Chief Justice of India (CJI) from April 24 to August 26, 2022.
· The Centre has recently asked CJI Sharad A. Bobde, who is retiring on April 23, to initiate the transition process to the top judicial office.
· CJI has recommended Justice N.V. Ramana, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court (SC), as the next top Judge.
· The recommendation was followed by the publication of a short statement informing that Andhra Pradesh (AP) Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s October 6 complaint against Justice Ramana was dismissed under an in-house procedure after due consideration.
AP CM’s complaint and issues
· A complaint dated October 6, 2020, sent by the AP CM to the SC was the accusation against the SC judge, Justice N. V. Ramana and some judges of AP High Court of Mis-conduct, corruption and political bias.
· It is to be noted that all matters dealt under the In-House procedure being strictly confidential in nature, are not liable to made public.
· Also the Constitution protects the independent of judges of the High Courts and the SC by making them removable only through a process of impeachment.
· For instance, Article 121 and 211 expressly bars the Parliament and State Legislatures from discussing the misconduct of judges.
· Hence, AP CM’s allegation against the judges is unprecedented since it has been made publicly.
Then How the allegation against judges are dealt with?
Two procedures are followed when it comes to complaints against the sitting judges. They are,
1. Impeachment
2. In-house procedure
Impeachment
Article 124 (4) determine the procedure of removal of the judges,
1. A motion of impeachment addressed to the President is to be signed by at least 100 members of the Lok Sabha (LS) or 50 members of the Rajya Sabha (RS) and then deliverd to the Speaker/Chairman of the LS or RS respectively.
2. The motion is to be investigated by a committee of 3 judges of the SC and a distinguished jurist.
3. If the committee finds the allegations against the judges, the motion along with the report of the committee is taken up for consideration in the House where motion was moved.
4. The judges is then removed by the requisite majority.
In-house procedure
· Under the in-house procedure, when a complaint is received against a HC judge, the CJI should decide if the issue is frivolous or serious.
· If a deeper probe is considered necessary, both the complaint and the judge’s response, along with the HC’s Chief Justice’s comments, are recorded for further action.
· If deemed necessary, CJI can also form a three-member committee to hold an inquiry into the matter. · The committee should have two Chief Justices from other HC’s and one HC judge.
· The inquiry it holds is of the nature of a fact-finding mission and is not a formal judicial inquiry involving examination of witnesses. The judge concerned is entitled to appear before it. -
-If the committee finds substance in the charges, it can give two kinds of recommendations.
If the misconduct is serious enough to require removal from office or that it is not serious enough to warrant removal.
If the misconduct does not warrant removal, the judge would be advised accordingly.
Procedure in Case of Chief Justice of High Court/ Judge of Supreme Court
· If the case is against a HC’s Chief Justice, the same procedure is followed as that of a judge of the HC, but the probe committee comprises a SC judge and two Chief Justices.
· If a SC judge faces such a charge, the in-house panel will comprise three SC judges. · The in-house procedure does not give any separate provision to deal with complaints against the Chief Justice of India.
