New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Tuesday recommended to the President of India and the Prime Minister to initiate proceedings in Parliament for the removal of Allahabad High Court Judge Shri Narayan Shukla for his judicial misconduct and corruption in the Lucknow Medical College scam.
According to highly placed sources, the Chief Justice of India sent his letter to the President and the PM late tonight paving the way for his possible impeachment in Parliament. Earlier, the Allahabad High Court has withdrawn all judicial work from Justice Shri Narayan Shukla, whose role in the scam was probed by a panel of three senior judges.
Highly-placed sources from Lucknow told this newspaper that judicial work was not assigned to Justice Shukla from January 23 following the directions of the Chief Justice Misra, to whom the probe panel submitted its report.
Quddussi episode highlighted scam
The medical college scam came to light after the CBI registered an FIR in September last against a retired a Judge of the Orissa HC Quddussi and others on a charge of corruption to get favourable orders to allow admissions in the college despite the Medical Council of India refusing to accord recognition to the college.
The campaign for Judicial Accountability through advocate Prashant Bhushan filed a PIL in the Apex Court for a probe by a special investigation team into allegations of corruption against judges of higher judiciary. Justice J. Chelameswar took upon himself the task of setting up a five-judge bench to probe a similar matter filed by advocate Kamini Jaiswal.
A bench headed by the CJI overturned this order and Mr Bhushan’s case was assigned to a bench of Justice R.K. Agrawal, which slapped Rs 25 lakhs on the petitioner. Subsequently the CJI set up an in-house panel led by the Chief Justice of Madras HC Indira Banerjee to probe into the matter.
The panel in its report held Justice Shukla of committing gross judicial misconduct, warranting removal from service either on his own or through the process of impeachment in Parliament.
