By IANS,
New Delhi : Calcutta High Court judge Soumitra Sen, facing impeachment proceedings in the Rajya Sabha for alleged financial irregularities, Wednesday made a powerful presentation claiming he was a self-made person hailing from an humble background.
“I am in this position because of my hard work,” Sen said in his 100-minute speech in English defending himself in the case, the first such in the upper house.
He said none of his family members – father, mother or siblings – were in judicial positions and his career has been self-made.
A full-suited Sen spoke calmly but strongly as he argued that there was “no proven case of misappropriation of money” against him. Two of his legal aides kept on supplying documents as he spoke from the bar of the house.
After the speech, Sen was asked by chairman Hamid Ansari to withdraw from the house.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders of various parties were present in the house, which had a high attendance.
“Whatever be the decision” of the Rajya Sabha, Sen said he will announce his innocence “from the rooftops”.
“I leave it your conscience,” Sen appealed to the MPs in the concluding part of his speech.
The four-hour discussion will continue Thursday as the house adjourned for the day after two hours of deliberations on the topic Wednesday.