Justice Sen resigns ahead of Monday''s impeachment motion in LS

Kolkata, Sep 1 (PTI) Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court today avoided the ignominy of becoming the first judge to be impeached by Parliament by tendering his resignation. Justice Sen sent in his resignation to President Pratibha Patil five days before the Lok Sabha was take up an impeachment motion against him. The Rajya Sabha has already passed the motion making him the first judge to have been impeached by the Upper House for misconduct.In his letter to the President, Justice Sen said that since Rajya Sabha has decided in its wisdom that he should not continue as a judge, he was resigning and wanted to live as a common citizen, his lawyer Subhash Bhattacharya said."I have decided not to go to the Lok Sabha and instead put in my papers," Sen, who was to have appeared before the Lok Sabha on September 5, said. Justice Sen has sent a copy of his resignation letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.Justice Sen was found guilty of misappropriating Rs 33.23 lakh under his custody as a court-appointed receiver in the capacity as a lawyer, and misrepresenting facts before a Calcutta court in a 1983 case. After a seven-hour long process marked by a brainstorming debate on August 18, the Rajya Sabha had overwhelmingly approved the impeachment motion against Justice Sen.189 members of the 206 present in the 245-member House voted in favour, recording well over 2/3rd majority required for such a move. The impeachment, first time in the Rajya Sabha and second in Parliament''s history, saw members of all parties, except BSP, holding Sen guilty of misconduct. .