{"id":286934,"date":"2024-03-14T19:00:12","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T13:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=286934"},"modified":"2024-03-14T17:30:17","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T12:00:17","slug":"issues-with-judges-and-bureaucrats-joining-politics-explained-pointwise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/issues-with-judges-and-bureaucrats-joining-politics-explained-pointwise\/","title":{"rendered":"Issues with Judges and Bureaucrats Joining Politics- Explained Pointwise"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Contentious issue of Judges and Bureaucrats joining politics has hit the headlines again. Recent case of a Calcutta High Court judge<\/span> and a senior IPS officer<\/span> in West Bengal resigning from their posts and joining political parties<\/span>, has raised questions of propriety<\/span> about independent constitutional authorities like Judges and bureaucrats.<\/p>\n

\"Judges
Created By Forum IAS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
Table of Content<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
What are the Constitutional restrictions preventing post retirement benefits?<\/a>
\nWhat are the cases of Judges and Bureaucrats Joining Politics?<\/a>
\nWhat are the issues with Judges and Bureaucrats Joining Politics?<\/a>
\nWhat are the recommendations and judgements?<\/a>
\nWhat should be the way Forward?<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/a>What are the Constitutional restrictions preventing post retirement benefits?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

The Indian constitution has laid down certain restrictions on the employment of various constitutional posts after demitting office. These constitutional restrictions have laid down to avoid favouritism<\/span>, during the period of holding such positions, towards the government in power with an intent of securing any post-retirement benefit<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Constitutional Restrictions on Post-Retirement Benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Article 124(7)<\/strong><\/td>\nA judge of a Supreme Court<\/span> after ceasing to hold office cannot appear as a lawyer before any court or authority in India.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Article 220<\/strong><\/td>\nA judge of a High Court<\/span> after ceasing to hold office cannot plead or act in any court or before any authority in India except the Supreme Court and the other High Courts.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Article 148(4)<\/strong><\/td>\nThe Comptroller and Auditor-General<\/span> shall not be eligible for further office either under the Government of India or under the Government of any State after he has ceased to hold his office.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Article 319<\/strong><\/td>\nChairman and members of the Union Public Service Commission<\/span> shall be ineligible for further employment either under the Government of India or under the Government of a State<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

However, there are no restrictions when it comes to joining political parties, contesting elections or being nominated to certain posts.<\/p>\n

<\/a>What are the cases of Judges and Bureaucrats Joining Politics?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

There are several notable instances of persons who held independent constitutional posts and later went on to join politics or were nominated to various posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
1952<\/strong><\/td>\nAppointment of<\/span> Justice Fazl Ali<\/span> as the Governor of Orissa<\/span>, shortly after his retirement from the Supreme Court.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1958<\/strong><\/td>\nResignation<\/span> of Chief Justice of Bombay High Court M C Chagla<\/span> in order to become India\u2019s Ambassador to the US<\/span>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1967<\/strong><\/td>\nResignation of Chief Justice of India Koka Subba Rao<\/span> to contest elections for President<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1983<\/strong><\/td>\nResignation of Supreme Court judge Baharul Islam<\/span> to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Assam<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2002<\/strong><\/td>\nAppointment of former CAG T N Chaturvedi<\/span> as the Governor of Karnataka<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2004<\/strong><\/td>\nNomination of Former Chief Election commissioner M.S. Gill<\/span> as the member of Rajya Sabha and appointment as minister<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2020<\/strong><\/td>\nNomination of Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi<\/span> to Rajya Sabha within four months after his retirement<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Numerous bureaucrats have also joined political parties and contested elections after resigning from service or soon after their retirement. For ex-<\/strong> Mani Shankar Aiyar<\/span> (IFS), Asim Arun<\/span> (IPS), Rajeshwar Singh<\/span> (IRS).<\/p>\n

<\/a>What are the issues with Judges and Bureaucrats Joining Politics?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

1. Breach of oath- <\/strong>Third Schedule of the Constitution<\/span> requires a constitutional authority (like judges, CAG) to swear that he\/she will perform his duties without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. Joining political parties for electoral office raises questions over impartiality and propriety<\/span>.<\/p>\n

2. Undermines independence of Constitutional Positions- <\/strong>Independence of Constitutional authorities is of paramount importance for preserving the sanctity of constitution. For ex-\u00a0<\/strong>Fears of politically biased judgement<\/span> and actions<\/span> in return for favours from political executives<\/span>.<\/p>\n

4. Dichotomy in application of ‘Cooling-off Period’- <\/strong>CCS Rules ([Rule 10 (1)] for Central Service Group \u2018A\u2019) prescribe a \u2018cooling off\u2019 period for senior bureaucrats before joining a private job after retirement. However, the lack of<\/span> ‘cooling-off<\/span>‘ period before joining politics, points to an inherent dichotomy.<\/p>\n

4. Violation Of Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct (2002)-<\/strong> The declaration enlists certain judicial values including independence<\/span>, impartiality<\/span>, integrity<\/span> and propriety<\/span>. Post-retirement, joining of political parties is a violation of Bangalore principles of Judicial Conduct.<\/p>\n

5. Breach of public trust-<\/strong> The Supreme Court in All India Judges\u2019 Association v. Union of India<\/span> (1991<\/span>) and C. Ravichandran Iyer v. Justice A.M. Bhattacharjee<\/span> (1995<\/span>) held that post-retirement benefits enjoyed by the judges is a breach of public trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read More- Time to prohibit judges from joining politics<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/a>What are the recommendations and judgements?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

EC Recommendation-<\/strong> Election Commission in 2012 recommended to the Union government to provide for a cooling-off period for top bureaucrats after their retirement<\/span> before they could join political parties and contest elections.<\/p>\n

Government rejected the EC recommendation based on AG’s opinion-<\/strong> Attorney General had opined that ‘cooling-off’ period for commercial employment is based on intelligible differentia to avoid conflicts of interest. However, such a restriction<\/span> against officials contesting polls may not be a valid classification and would not be in harmony with democratic principles in the Constitution<\/span>.<\/p>\n

SC Observations-<\/strong> The Supreme Court had dismissed a writ petition<\/span> in May 2022 that sought a direction from the top court to the legislature to frame a law imposing a cooling-off period for retired bureaucrats<\/span> before joining politics. The court observed that it is for the legislature to determine whether a cooling-off period is required for bureaucrats<\/span> before they join politics after retirement.<\/p>\n

<\/a>What should be the way Forward?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

It is imperative to remember the famous judicial quote that \u2018justice should not only be done but should also be seen to be done<\/span>\u2019. Extending this principle for post-retirement benefits of constitutional authorities will have a salutary effect. Following steps will demonstrate the application of principle of Justice<\/span>–<\/p>\n

a. Legislation prescribing a two year ‘Cooling off Period’-<\/strong> As recommended by the SC, the Parliament by law must prescribe a cooling-off period<\/span> of at least two years for joining political parties or being nominated to political posts by the government.<\/p>\n

b. Increasing the retirement age of Judges-\u00a0<\/strong>Increasing the age of retirement from 60 to 70<\/span> would guard against the risk of conflicts of interest arising in relation to post-retirement employment for a judge.<\/p>\n

c. Prescribing conditions for appointment in tribunals- <\/strong>The conditions like\u00a0 constitutional matters or PILs heard<\/span>, number of years of practice<\/span>, research expertise<\/span>, number of years that the judge has served on a bench that decided matters of similar nature<\/span>, must be placed before deciding post-retirement appointments.<\/p>\n

4. Self-regulation on part of people occupying constitutional positions-<\/strong> Self-regulation would be the guiding light for people occupying constitutional positions. For ex-<\/strong> Retired Justices Chelameswar<\/span> and Kurian Joseph<\/span> and Former CJIs Kapadia<\/span>, Lodha<\/span> and Thakur<\/span>, denial of post-retirement plunge in politics or nomination to political posts<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read More- The Hindu<\/a>
\nUPSC Syllabus- GS 2- Issues related to bureacracy and judiciary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Contentious issue of Judges and Bureaucrats joining politics has hit the headlines again. Recent case of a Calcutta High Court judge and a senior IPS officer in West Bengal resigning from their posts and joining political parties, has raised questions of propriety about independent constitutional authorities like Judges and bureaucrats. Table of Content What… Continue reading Issues with Judges and Bureaucrats Joining Politics- Explained Pointwise<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10357,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-286934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-pm","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10357"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286934\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}