india

Updated: Jan 30, 2018 18:21 IST

The chief justice of the Allahabad high court has withdrawn all judicial work from Justice Shri Narayan Shukla, who was recently probed for his role in the medical admission scam, paving the way for action against the judge.

According to the list of business released by the Allahabad high court registry for January 30, Justice Shukla’s name does not appear on the roster.

“I request you to leave me alone,” Justice Shukla said when he was contacted.

Sources familiar with the matter said that justice Shukla has not been attending the high court since the last week as all judicial work has been taken away from him.

Justice Shukla was under the scanner for allegedly granting permission to a private medical college to admit students despite a ban by the Medical Council of India and Supreme Court orders on the issue.

In November last year, complaints of corruption against justice Shukla were received by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, who then set up an in-house inquiry committee to probe the allegations.

The three-member committee, comprising Madras high court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee, Sikkim high court Chief Justice SK Agnihotri and Madhya Pradesh high court judge PK Jaiswal, recently concluded its probe against Justice Shukla and made adverse remarks against him in their report.

Sources said the CJI advised the chief justice of the Allahabad high court to withdraw judicial work from Justice Shukla, who refused to resign or take voluntary retirement after he was informed about the adverse finding against him.

According to the in-house procedure, the CJI will now recommend initiation of removal proceedings against justice Shukla and inform the President and the Prime Minister of the decision.

As per the Constitution, a judge can be removed only on the ground of proven misbehaviour or incapacity. The complaint about misbehaviour or incapacity against a judge has to be probed under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968.

A removal motion signed by 100 members in case of the Lok Sabha or 50 members in case of the Rajya Sabha is to be given to the Speaker or the chairperson.

The House will then constitute a three-member committee to investigate the charges. The committee should consist of the Chief Justice or a judge of the Supreme Court, a Chief Justice of a high court and a distinguished jurist.

If the committee finds the judge guilty of the charges of misbehaviour or incapacity, the House in which the motion was introduced, can take up the consideration of the motion.

Once, the House in which removal motion was introduced, passes it with a special majority, it goes to the second House which also has to pass it with the special majority.

After the motion is passed by both the Houses of Parliament by special majority, an address is presented to the President for removal of the judge. The President then passes an order removing the judge.