V. Ramaswami
| V. Ramaswami | |
|---|---|
| Judge of Supreme Court of India | |
|
In office 6 October 1989 – 14 February 1994 |
|
| Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court | |
|
In office 12 November 1987 – 6 October 1989 |
|
| Nominated by | Debi Singh Tewatia |
| Appointed by | Shanti Sarup Dewan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 February 1929 |
V. Ramaswami was the Justice of the Supreme Court of India and the first judge against whom removal proceedings were initiated in independent India (do note we can not use the word impeachment for the removal of judges because the word impeachment is explicitly used in article 61 for the removal of president ) .The only other judge to face removal proceedings is Justice "Soumitra Sen" of Calcutta High Court, proceedings against whom were initiated in Rajya Sabha on 17 August 2011. Another such motion was initiated against Chief Justice Dinakaran of Sikkim High Court who then resigned from his post.
Ramaswami was born on 15 February 1929. He spent his school years in Hindu High School in Srivilliputhur. He was educated in The American College in Madurai and received a degree in Law from Madras Law College.
He began his career by practising both civil and criminal law at the Madras High Court. He was appointed permanent Judge of the Madras High Court from 31 January 1971. He was later transferred and appointed Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court on 12 November 1987. At the height of his career, he was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court on 6 October 1989 from which he retired on 14 February 1994.
A scandal surfaced in the middle of year 1990 when several media outlets reported about his ostentatious expenditure on his official residence during his tenure as a Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana. In a serious turn of events, on 1 February 1991, Supreme Court Bar Association passed a resolution calling for his impeachment and requesting Chief justice not assign him any further legal work. Bharatiya Janata Party and Left parties submitted a notice of motion to the Indian Parliament seeking his removal from office.
Accepting the motion on 12 March 1991, Speaker Rabi Ray constituted a committee composed of Justice P B Sawant of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice P D Desai of the Bombay High Court and Justice O Chinnappa Reddy, retired judge of the Supreme Court to investigate the affair. The committee found Ramaswami guilty of 11 out of 14 charges.
...
Wikipedia