THE CHARGES • Accused of keeping in his personal account Rs 33 lakh, which he had received as a court receiver in a case when he was a lawyer, and using it for personal gain • As receiver, he wasexpected to hold themoney in a separateaccount in a bank of his choice till the court decided what to do with the money. He was also expected to submit account statements every six months • Instead, he was accused of making personalpayments from the account and moving money from this account into another. He did not submit any statements and only returned the money when CalcuttaHigh Court ordered himto, 18 years later. By thenhe was a judge • Later, the division bench issued a consent orderexpunging the adverseremarks made against him by single-judge bench

New Delhi, Aug. 17 (PTI): Appearing before the Rajya Sabha in an impeachment motion, Justice Soumitra Sen of Calcutta High Court today said allegations of misconduct and misappropriation of funds against him were aimed at victimising him in a pre-determined move.

In his almost two-hour defence in the Upper House that formed a court for the first time, Sen pleaded for justice.

“I have exhausted my remedies in accordance with law. I have come here to seek justice. If you impeach me, it will be the gravest of injustice done ever. Kindly apply your mind before deciding on the judgment, as it is a question of my life,” he said.

He said, even if he was impeached, he would “scream from the rooftop that I have not misappropriated.… I am being made a sacrificial lamb to cleanse the judiciary”.

The impeachment proceedings against Sen are the first ever in the Upper House and second in the history of Parliament. The first such case involved the impeachment motion in the Lok Sabha of Justice V. Ramaswami of the Supreme Court in May 1993 which fell through because of lack of numbers after the Congress members abstained.

Incidentally, Union minister Kapil Sibal, who was then a senior advocate, had presented the case of Justice Ramaswami before the Lower House.

Justice P.D. Dinakaran, Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court, against whom the Rajya Sabha chairman had set up a judicial panel to inquire into allegations of corruption, resigned on July 29 this year before an impeachment could be initiated against him.

Unlike Ramaswami, Sen presented his case personally, backed by two lawyers.

Sen said tarnishing the image of a judge was like tarnishing the image of the judiciary.

He appeared before a “bar” posted at the gate of the central aisle of the Upper House, facing chairman Hamid Ansari as CPM leader Sitaram Yechury moved two motions against him.

As the impeachment proceedings were about to start, Ansari asked the marshals: “Is Justice Sen in attendance?... Bring him to the Bar of the House.”

The motions, supported by leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley, was on grounds of misconduct by Sen on account of misappropriation of large sums of money, which he received in his capacity as receiver before his elevation to the high court. The second ground is that he has misrepresented facts with regard to the misappropriation of money before the high court.

Defending himself, Sen said: “The decision to hold me guilty was taken long time ago” as an inquiry was initiated against him even after a division bench of the high court had cleared him of the charges.

He contended that the case against him was based on former Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishanan’s letter to the Prime Minister in this regard. Balakrishnan thought a deeper probe was necessary, though there were no allegation against him, he said.