Moily: Judges bill in Monsoon Session
Union law and justice minister M. Veerappa Moily on Friday stated that the proposed Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010 will be brought before Parliament in the Monsoon Session.
“We expect to move the bill for Parliament’s approval in the Monsoon Session. The bill has been cleared by the group of ministers,” he stated. The bill is now expected to seek the Cabinet’s nod before it is tabled in Parliament. The GoM, which cleared the bill, is headed by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, with HRD minister Kapil Sibal and Dr Moily as its members. The bill aims to provide a mechanism to probe cases of misconduct or questionable action of a judge of the Supreme Court or the high court. Under the present laws the only option available for dealing with such judges is their removal by the way of impeachment. The new bill proposes to create an oversight committee, headed by the vice-president of India, that would be empowered to issue advisories or warnings to such judges.
If the oversight committee finds the misconduct is grave enough to warrant the erring judges removal from service, it would have the power to first ask him to voluntarily retire or, if he refuses to do so, recommend his removal from office.
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