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Q46·GS Paper 1 · Prelims 2019

Impeachment of Supreme Court Judges

PolityRemoval of judges and impeachmentStatement-based● HardStatic

Question

Consider the following statements:

1The motion to impeach a Judge of the Supreme Court of India cannot be rejected by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha as per the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968.
2The Constitution of India defines and gives details of what constitutes 'incapacity and proved misbehaviour' of the Judges of the Supreme Court of India.
3The details of the process of impeachment of the Judges of the Supreme Court of India are given in the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968.
4If the motion for the impeachment of a Judge is taken up for voting, the law requires the motion to be backed by each House of the Parliament and supported by a majority of total membership of that House and by not less than two-thirds of total members of that House present and voting.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1.

    The motion to impeach a Judge of the Supreme Court of India cannot be rejected by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha as per the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968.

  2. 2.

    The Constitution of India defines and gives details of what constitutes 'incapacity and proved misbehaviour' of the Judges of the Supreme Court of India.

  3. 3.

    The details of the process of impeachment of the Judges of the Supreme Court of India are given in the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968.

  4. 4.

    If the motion for the impeachment of a Judge is taken up for voting, the law requires the motion to be backed by each House of the Parliament and supported by a majority of total membership of that House and by not less than two-thirds of total members of that House present and voting.

Options

a

1 and 2

b

3 only

c

3 and 4 only

Answer
d

1, 3 and 4

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Speaker can admit or reject an impeachment motion based on procedural grounds. Statement 2 is incorrect. The Constitution uses the terms 'proved misbehaviour' and 'incapacity' but does not define them in detail; the Judges (Inquiry) Act provides the procedural framework. Statement 3 is correct. The Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 contains the detailed process for impeachment of judges. Statement 4 is correct. The motion requires support from at least one-fourth of total membership of the House moving the motion, and when voted upon, it must be passed by a majority of total membership and by not less than two-thirds of members present and voting in both Houses. > Statements 3 and 4 correctly describe the Judges (Inquiry) Act procedures and voting requirements. Answer: (c).

Question details

Year

2019

Paper

GS Paper 1

Question

Q46

Subject

Polity

Sub-topic

Removal of judges and impeachment

Type

Statement-based

Difficulty

Hard

Nature

Static

Source hint

NCERT Polity; Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968

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