With the government notifying the resignation of Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta high court, the impeachment proceedings in the Lok Sabha scheduled for Monday may not be taken up.
Though the Speaker’s office maintained Sunday that the situation “stands as it is” (the impeachment motion is listed for Monday), in the changed circumstances a final decision will be taken Monday morning by the business advisory committee.
Government sources, however, confirmed that the House would not take up the impeachment motion. “The government will inform the Speaker about the notification on Justice Sen’s resignation. It will also convey there is no need to go ahead with impeachment proceedings,” they said.
Justice Sen’s resignation after being impeached by the Rajya Sabha, and ahead of Lok Sabha proceedings, created a piquant situation for the government.
The predominant legal view is that proceedings in the Lok Sabha have been rendered infructuous by the judge’s resignation.
The BJP too has indicated it did not favour impeachment in the changed circumstances “as he had already tendered his resignation and was no longer a sitting high court judge.”
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Nato offer to share missile defence tech
Brussels, Sept. 4: In a move that holds great strategic significance, Nato has offered to share missile defence technology with India to build its capability to shoot down incoming enemy missiles. India thus becomes the only nation, apart from Russia, outside of Nato that the US-led military alliance is willing to work in missile defence technology.
“You (India) have a missile threat that confronts you. We (Nato) have a missile threat that confronts us. Our need to defend against these threats might be the same,” a senior Nato official told a group of Indian journalists on a visit to the group’s headquarters here. — IANS