MPs seek law to suspend judge facing serious charges

NEW DELHI: DMK Rajya Sabha MPs have asked the government to introduce a legislation providing for suspension of judges facing serious charges against strong evidence, while stressing that impeachment is a complex process.Wilson said on Thursday’s “Zero Hour” program, “We must legislate a mechanism to suspend judges facing serious accusations based on solid evidence without compromising judicial independence, to maintain public confidence in the judiciary. Impeachment is a long and extremely complex process.”The demand comes amid pending impeachment proceedings against Justice Yashwant Varma in the Lok Sabha.Wilson also pointed out that of the 593 judges appointed to the High Court in the past five years, 473 (nearly 80 per cent) belonged to the frontier community. “Even in the Supreme Court today, there is only one woman judge, two judges belonging to religious minorities, one judge from scheduled castes and no judge from scheduled tribes. There is a need for wider social representation so that the judiciary reflects the diversity of our society,” he added.