According
to some of the news channels a mountain of currency notes of not less than Rs
nine crore were found in the residence of a judge of the Delhi High Court. It
is alarmingly shocking, to say the least. It is common knowledge that many judges
have been taking facilities from some people during their foreign travels but to
find such a big pile of notes from the residence of any judge has been unheard of.
It
is a clear case of financial corruption. Quid pro quo cannot be ruled out. Who
has given this money for which for obtaining favourable order in which case can
be ascertained only after thorough enquiry? If the fire had not broken out in the
house of the judge in his absence, possibly secret would not have tumbled out. What is all the more shocking is that why instead
of divesting him of his works pending investigation, he has been transferred to
his parent High Court of Allahabad. Indeed, High Court judges cannot be
suspended in the conventional sense. However, they can be removed under specific
provisions of the Constitution. Articles 124(4) and 217 outline the process for
removing judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, respectively.
The
collegium system has always been under the cloud but the constitution bench of five
judges did a great disservice by setting aside the NJAC, which was passed
unanimously by the Parliament and ratified by 14 State Assemblies. Except for the
abstention of Shri Ram Jethmalani, both houses of Parliament were of the
unanimous view that that Collegium must be given go by. Only Justice Chelameswar
gave his dissenting opinion in the NJAC case.
There
is no gainsaying that a transparent system must be evolved for the appointment
of High Court and Supreme Court judges to instil the confidence of the public
in the judiciary.
