Yechury urges prez to remove J&K&L HC's chief justice for speaking against Constitution

As the custodian of the Constitution, as the head of the State and as the appointing authority of Mithal, I request your good self to immediately set in motion the process for his removal from office to uphold the sanctity of the Constitution and independence of judiciary, Yechury said.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday urged President Ram Nath Kovind to remove Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh (J&K&L) High Court's Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal for allegedly speaking ''against the Indian Constitution''. While addressing a program organized by an organisation affiliated to the RSS on December 5 at Jammu, Mithal spoke ''against the Constitution of India'', Yechury claimed in his letter to Kovind.

''It has been widely reported in the media that Mithal addressed a seminar organized by the Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad and said the following, 'Inclusion of the terms secular and socialist in the Preamble of the Constitution had narrowed India's spiritual image','' Yechury said.

''Mithal is further reported to have said, 'Sometimes, we bring amendments due to our adamancy','' he noted. Utterances against the country's Constitution by a high court chief justice, that too from a platform which preaches a particular ideology, is an unpardonable offense which is in violation of the oath taken by him to carry out his constitutional functions, the CPI(M) leader asserted.

''Mithal's conduct (is) unbecoming of the constitutional office of the chief justice that he is holding (and it) warrants his immediate removal from the said office,'' he stated. ''As the custodian of the Constitution, as the head of the State and as the appointing authority of Mithal, I request your good self to immediately set in motion the process for his removal from office to uphold the sanctity of the Constitution and independence of the judiciary,'' Yechury said.

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