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.

... contd.