Former judges condemn impeachment attempt against Justice GR Swaminathan

A group of former Supreme Court and High Court judges has condemned the attempted impeachment of Justice G R Swaminathan of Madras High Court, calling it a “brazen” move that threatens judicial independence and undermines constitutional democracy

New Delhi: A group of former Supreme Court judges, former Chief Justices of High Courts, and senior High Court judges has issued a joint statement condemning a “deeply troubling” attempt to initiate impeachment proceedings against Justice G R Swaminathan of the Madras High Court.

The statement termed the move — led by certain Members of Parliament and supported by a few senior advocates — a “brazen attempt” to browbeat a sitting judge simply because his judicial reasoning does not align with the “ideological and political expectations of a particular constituency”.

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The retired judges said that permitting such efforts to proceed would “cut at the very roots of our democracy and the independence of the judiciary”. The statement added that even if the allegations cited by the MP initiating the process were taken at face value, they were “wholly inadequate” to justify invoking impeachment.

The statement highlighted how the supersession of three senior Supreme Court judges following the Kesavananda Bharati verdict and the sidelining of Justice H R  Khanna after his historic dissent in the ADM Jabalpur case continue to serve as stark reminders of the dangers of political overreach.

The judiciary, the former judges said, had “stood the test of time and withstood external pressures” despite such assaults. According to the statement, the present episode is part of a “clear and deeply troubling pattern” in which sections of the political class seek to delegitimise and intimidate the higher judiciary whenever judicial outcomes fail to serve partisan interests.

“It is an attempt to weaponise impeachment and public calumny as instruments of pressure — a practice that strikes at the heart of judicial independence and the basic norms of constitutional democracy,” it added.

Calling the attempt against Justice Swaminathan “a continuing assault on the dignity and independence of the judicial institution itself”, the retired judges cautioned that while today the target may be one individual judge, “tomorrow, it will be the institution as a whole”.

They urged all stakeholders — Members of Parliament across party lines, the Bar, civil society, and citizens — to “denounce the move unequivocally” and ensure it is “nipped in the bud at inception”.

Judicial accountability, the statement stressed, flows from a judge’s oath to the Constitution, not from “partisan pressures or ideological intimidation”.

“In a Republic governed by the rule of law, judgments are tested through appeals and reasoned legal critique — not by threats of impeachment for political non-conformity,” the statement concluded.