Now the second point is about the Parliament being invested with the power of removal of judges. Here I would ask you, Sir, to follow the practice in all the Dominion Constitutions. Whereas on the one hand there is an anxiety to increase the importance of the judiciary, I cannot understand the judciary also being treated on a level with Government servants or by a kind of special tribunal being invested with the power of removal. That is why in the Dominion Constitution the words “proved misbehaviour” are used. While the ultimate power may rest with the two Houses, the clause provides that the charges must be proved. How exactly to prove the charges will be provided for in the Federal Law. We need not be more meticulous or more elaborate than people who have tried a similar case in other jurisdictions. I challenged my friend to say whether there is any detailed provision for the removal of judges more than that in any other Constitution in the world. The general principle is laid down in the Constitution and later on the Federal Law will provide for adequate machinery and that is the import of the clause. I would, therefore, ask the House to accept the general principle namely, that the President in consultation with the Supreme Legislature of this country shall have the right. That does not mean that the Supreme Legislature will abuse that power. There is sufficient safeguard in the reference “Proved misbehaviour” and we might make elaborate; and adequate provision for the way in which the guilt can be brought home to the particular judge in any federal law that may be passed, but that is a different matter.
