New Delhi: Parliamentarians are likely to seek impeachment of the Gujarat high court judge who dubbed reservations as a drag on the country’s progress.

A group of MPs from the Rajya Sabha has started collecting signatures of fellow members in accordance with the requirement of 50 MPs for impeachment. The proponents of the move claimed they had mustered proposers across party and community lines. The motion, criticizing the judge for “behavioural misconduct”, may be filed on Friday, they said.

As per procedure, if the presiding officer accepts the motion, he constitutes a three-member committee to probe if the charge is serious enough to warrant removal under Article 124(4) of the Constitution. Only later do the proceedings start.

There have been only two occasions in the past when Parliament has taken up impeachment proceedings. In 2011, Justice Soumitra Sen resigned after the Rajya Sabha adopted the motion for his removal and sent it to the Lok Sabha to complete the process. In 1993, an impeachment move was started against Justice V Ramaswami but the motion failed.

The present controversy revolves around the observations made by Justice J B Pardiwala of Gujarat HC during a hearing on Hardik Patel, leader of the Patidar agitation for job reservations.

In his order, the judge mentioned “corruption” and “reservation” as two villains that have destroyed the country or not allowed it to progress in the right direction. He called it shameful that a citizen should ask for reservation after 65 years of independence, further noting that quotas were initially to stay only for 10 years but continued for more than six decades since.

The remarks stung MPs belonging to backward classes. A senior Congress member said reservations were part of the Constitution and for the judge to talk about them with hostility showed disregard for the statute.

The parliamentarians’ concern is that the HC’s observations -- “which can at best be uttered in private conversations” -- are now part of judicial proceedings and can be cited as precedent. “It can seriously hurt the interests of backward classes,” a Dalit MP said.

The aggrieved members said the plea for impeachment would act as a deterrent for judges to not mix personal views with judicial work.

It is to be seen how far the move goes. If a motion is initiated as per the plan, it would bring with it the political weight of a sensitive subject like reservations.