Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, is of the opinion that if the ongoing crisis in Supreme Court cannot be solved by the judiciary itself or by the three branches of government, the question of the Chief Justice’s impeachment would be be raised.
Yechury was in conversation with Sashi Kumar, chairman of the Media Development Foundation, in a session titled 'Is the India Our Constitution Envisages Under Challenge?' on the first day of The Hindu Lit for Life.
Commenting on the question of the CJI’s impeachment, Yechury said, “It surely will come up. Because the charges are very, very grave. They merit a proper response. The truth behind the charges has to be established.”
Yechury listed several possible causes — the memorandum of procedure, controversy over the appointment of judges, the “mysterious” death of Judge B.H. Loya, the “very sensational” suicide note of the former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister, the “allegations about bribery in medical colleges” — that may have led to the events of January 12, when four Supreme Court judges went public with charges against CJI Dipak Misra.
Yechury insisted on the importance of re-establishing the independence and integrity of Supreme Court. He was willing to give the benefit of the doubt to the four judges who have spoken out. “I think they have raised it [the issue] because it reached a brink,” he said.
Yechury also pointed out that the presence of Justice Ranjan Gogoi among the four judges was significant. “Three of these four judges will be retiring before this year ends. But the one who won’t is the one most likely to be our next Chief Justice. If he thought that this is the right step to take, that merits a proper understanding,” he said.
