Judge Sen’s trial in upper house unlikely to end today
18 Aug 2011
The Rajya Sabha today resumed impeachment proceedings against Calcutta high court judge Soumitra Sen.
Arun Jaitely, a senior member of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and a former lawyer, has accused the indicted judge of committing perjury in the upper house, which has been converted into a quasi-courtroom for proceedings against Sen.
On Wednesday, Sen got 90 minutes to defend himself on charges of ill-gained money. In a strong speech, he repeatedly blamed former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan (who is also shrouded in a cloud of corruption allegations) for his predicament.
Jaitley is likely to produce documents later today to prove an additional charge that Justice Sen deliberately misled the house.
On Wednesday, Sen argued that the allegations of misconduct and misappropriation of money against him were part of a pre-determined move by higher-ups in the judiciary, particularly Balakrishnan, to make him the ''sacrificial lamb'' for showcasing his "cleansing" of the judiciary.
Speaking for nearly two hours to convince the upper house, Sen - who argued from a bar put up at the gate of the central aisle of the Rajya Sabha - argued that no worker or lawyer had charged him with misappropriation of funds; and that he had been given a clean chit by a division bench of the high court.
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