Bill to discipline judges: panel’s crucial meet Thursday

By IANS

New Delhi : A parliamentary panel, examining a bill to discipline errant judges, is to hold Thursday a crucial meeting to finalise its recommendations to the government, law ministry officials said.


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The meeting is to be chaired by Rajya Sabha member E.M.S Natchiappan, who heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice that is examining the Judges (Inquiry) Bill, 2006.

The meeting will be the last or the second last before finalisation of the recommendations. The law ministry had introduced the bill in the Lok Sabha on Dec 19, 2006.

The house had referred the bill to the panel the same day for examination.

Senior officials of the ministries of law and justice and home will attend the committee meeting.

The bill is aimed at establishing a National Judicial Council to probe into various types of complaints and allegations against the judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts.

The panel has already recorded views and opinions of several legal experts, including former law ministers Ram Jethmalani, Arun Jaitley and Shanti Bhushan, besides several former judges.

The law ministry officials said several members of the committee were opposed to some controversial provisions of the bill, which seek to do away with a semblance of existing control of parliament over judiciary.

The bill, for example, provides that an impeached judge of the Supreme Court or a high court can challenge in the apex court the president's order dismissing him, said the officials, adding that even the constitution does not envisage such a scenario.

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