V. Ramaswami
Veeraswami Ramaswami was a judge of the Supreme Court of India and the first judge against whom removal proceedings were initiated in independent India.
Early life and education
Veeraswami Ramaswami was born on 15 February 1929. His age was moved back by 2 years according to accounts from his late father-in-law Justice K Veeraswami, who was the former Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, and forged documents indicating 15 February 1929, as his birth date. In reality Ramaswami was born in 1927. He spent his school years at Hindu High School in Srivilliputhur. He was educated at The American College in Madurai and received a degree in Law from Madras Law College.Professional career
Ramaswami began his career by practising both civil and criminal law at the Madras High Court. He was appointed permanent Judge of the Madras High Court from 31 January 1971. He was later transferred and appointed Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court on 12 November 1987. At the height of his career, he was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court on 6 October 1989 from which he retired on 14 February 1994.Removal proceedings
Investigation
A scandal surfaced in the middle of the year 1990 when several media outlets reported about his ostentatious expenditure on his official residence during his tenure as a Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana. On 1 February 1991, the Supreme Court Bar Association passed a resolution calling for his removal and requesting that the Chief justice not assign him any further legal work. The Bharatiya Janata Party and Left parties submitted a notice of motion to the Indian Parliament seeking his removal from office.Accepting the motion on 12 March 1991, Speaker Rabi Ray constituted a committee composed of Justice P B Sawant of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Prabodh Dinkarrao Desai of the Bombay High Court, and Justice O Chinnappa Reddy, retired judge of the Supreme Court to investigate the affair. The committee found Ramaswami guilty of 11 out of 14 charges.
Removal motion in the Lok Sabha (failed)
The removal motion was placed in the Lok Sabha for debate and voting on 10 May 1993. Well-known lawyer and Congress politician Kapil Sibal was Ramaswami's defence lawyer. The Committee constituted by the Speaker headed by Justice P.B Sawant found him guilty of misbehaviour. Justice Ramaswami’s supporters tried to use all possible weapons to thwart the resolution. As the Dravidar Kazhagam’s earlier ploy of calling it a plot by brahmins had failed, they now used a new strategy of calling it a conspiracy by North Indians to remove a South Indian judge from his post. Despite a three-member committee of judges finding that there was basis for nine of the 19 charges, of the 401 members present in the Lok Sabha that day, there were 196 votes for removal, no votes against, and 205 abstentions by the ruling Congress and its allies. The motion which requires a two-thirds majority of members present during voting and an absolute majority of the total membership of the house, thus failed to pass.The said decision has been politically viewed as a means of defending corruption by the Congress and Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam given the post-retirement offices he held.