The committee, comprising two sitting judges and Nariman, was constituted on March 20, 2009, under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968. This came after 58 MPs of the Rajya Sabha, on February 21, moved the impeachment motion against Justice Sen on the basis of a recommendation sent by Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last August.

The motion, formally admitted on February 27, sought the removal of the judge for “misappropriating large sums of money which he received in his capacity as receiver appointed by the High Court and misrepresenting facts with regard to the misappropriation before the High Court.”

As a Court-appointed receiver in a lawsuit between Steel Authority of India Ltd and Shipping Corporation of India, Sen had deposited Rs 32 lakh received by him on behalf of SAIL in his personal account. He was forced to return the money along with interest after a single judge of the Calcutta High Court, in 2006, concluded that he had prima facie converted and appropriated the amount lying in his custody without authority of the Court and his conduct was nothing short of criminal misappropriation.

In its report, dated February 1, 2008, a committee of judges concluded that Sen misappropriated funds and held his misconduct as so serious that it called for initiation of proceedings for his removal.

The case against Sen was strengthened after Union Law Secretary T K Vishwanathan opined that there were sufficient grounds to proceed against him.

In his letter, Sen’s counsel, Subhas Bhattacharya, has said that Nariman had openly spoken against Sen and expressed his opinion in favour of the impeachment. “Justice Sen has serious apprehension about the biasness of Mr Nariman in the matter and I also feel that his presence in the committee will go against the spirit and purpose of the Constitution of India,” Bhattacharya’s letter to the RS Chairman says.

When contacted, Nariman said he would not like to comment at this juncture. “I will say whatever I have to say only when the Rajya Sabha wants me to,” he said.

Refusing to confirm if the Rajya Sabha (RS) had received the letter from Sen’s lawyer, RS Secretary-General V K Agnihotri said, “We have received many papers. All will be placed before the three-member panel when it meets. We can’t take any decision on our own.”

Apart from Nariman, the two members of the panel are Supreme Court Judge B Sudershan Reddy and Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur.

As already reported, Supreme Court Judge D K Jain, who was earlier heading the committee, wrote to RS Secretary-General on June 10, wanting to withdraw from the committee. His letter said it would not be possible for him to serve on the committee. Thereafter, on June 25, Chairman Ansari reconstituted the committee by replacing Jain with Justice Reddy.

After the committee constituted by the RS Chairman concludes its inquiry and if it agrees that there are enough reasons for the judge to be removed, the Rajya Sabha will entertain a motion for removal of the Judge.

Under the procedure, the Judge will have the chance to rebut the case for his removal either personally or through a counsel.

If the motion is passed by two-thirds majority of the members of both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha present and voting, the President is then requested to issue the order for the judge’s removal. If it goes through, it will be the first impeachment of a sitting judge.