#THE JUDGES (INQUIRY) ACT, 1968 
________ 

##ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 
_________ 

SECTIONS 
1. Short title and Commencement. 
2. Definitions. 
3. Investigation into misbehaviour or incapacity of Judge by Committee. 
4. Report of Committee. 
5. Powers of Committee. 
6. Consideration of report and procedure for presentation of an address for removal of Judge. 
7. Power to make rules. 



#THE JUDGES (INQUIRY) ACT, 1968 

##ACT NO. 51 OF 1968 

[5th December, 1968.] 

An  Act  to  regulate  the  procedure  for  the  investigation  and  proof  of  the  misbehaviour  or 
  incapacity of a judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court and for the presentation of 
  an address by Parliament to the President and for matters connected therewith. 

  BE it enacted by Parliament in the Nineteenth Year of the Republic of India as follows:— 

1. **Short title and Commencement.**—(1) This Act may be called the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968. 

(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the 
Official Gazette, appoint. 

2. **Definitions.**—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— 

  (a) “Chairman” means the Chairman of the Council of States; 

  (b) “Committee” means a Committee constituted under section 3; 

  (c) “Judge” means a Judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court and includes the Chief 
Justice of India and the Chief Justice of a High Court; 

  (d) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act; 

  (e) “Speaker” means the Speaker of the House of the People. 

3. **Investigation into misbehaviour or incapacity of Judge by Committee.**—(1)  If  notice  is 
given  of  a  motion  for  presenting  an  address  to  the  President  praying  for  the  removal  of  a 
Judge signed,— 

  (a) in  the  case  of  a  notice  given  in  the  House  of  the  People,  by  not  less  than  one  hundred 
members of that House; 

  (b) in the case of a notice given in the Council of States, by not less than fifty members of 
that Council; 

then, the Speaker or, as the case may be, the Chairman may, after consulting such persons, if any, as 
he thinks fit and after considering such materials, if any, as may be available to him, either admit the 
motion or refuse to admit the same. 

(2) If the motion referred to in sub-section (1) is admitted, the Speaker or, as the case may be, the 
Chairman shall keep the motion pending and constitute, as soon as may be, for the purpose of making 
an  investigation  into  the  grounds  on  which  the  removal  of  a  Judge  is  prayed  for,  a  Committee 
consisting of three members of whom— 

  (a) one shall be chosen from among the Chief Justice and other Judges of the Supreme Court; 

  (b) one shall be chosen from among the Chief Justices of the High Courts, and 

  (c) one shall be a person who is, in the opinion of, the Speaker or, as the case  may be, the 
Chairman, a distinguished jurist: 

  Provided that where notices of a motion referred to in sub-section (1) are given on the same day in 
both Houses of Parliament, no Committee shall be constituted unless the motion has been admitted in 
both  Houses  and  where  such  motion  has  been  admitted  in  both  Houses,  the  Committee  shall  be 
constituted jointly by the Speaker and the Chairman: 

  Provided further that where notices of a motion as aforesaid are given in the Houses of Parliament 
on different dates, the notice which is given later shall stand rejected. 

(3) The  Committee  shall  frame  definite  charges  against  the  Judge  on  the  basis  of  which  the 
investigation is proposed to be held. 

(4) Such  charges  together  with  a  statement  of  the  grounds  on  which  each  such  charge  is  based 
shall  be  communicated  to the Judge  and  he shall  be given  a  reasonable  opportunity  of  presenting a 
written statement of defence within such time as may be specified in this behalf by the Committee. 

(5) Where it is alleged that the Judge is unable to discharge the duties of his office efficiently due 
to any physical or mental incapacity and the allegation is denied, the Committee may arrange for the 
medical examination of the Judge by such Medical Board as may be appointed for the purpose by the 
Speaker or, as the case may be, the Chairman or, where the Committee is constituted jointly by the 
Speaker  and the  Chairman,  by  both  of  them,  for  the purpose  and the Judge  shall  submit  himself to 
such medical examination within the time specified in this behalf by the Committee. 

(6) The  Medical  Board  shall  undertake  such  medical  examination  of  the  Judge  as  may  be 
considered necessary and submit a report to the Committee stating therein whether the incapacity is 
such as to render the Judge unfit to continue in office. 

(7) If  the  Judge  refuses  to  undergo  medical  examination  considered  necessary  by  the  Medical 
Board,  the  Board  shall  submit  a  report  to  the  Committee  stating  therein  the  examination  which  the 
Judge  has  refused  to  undergo,  and  the  Committee  may,  on  receipt  of  such  report,  presume  that  the 
Judge  suffers  from  such  physical  or  mental  incapacity  as  is  alleged  in  the  motion  referred  to  in 
sub-section (1). 

(8) The  Committee  may,  after  considering  the  written  statement  of  the  Judge  and  the  medical 
report, if any, amend the charges framed under sub-section (3) and in such a case, the Judge shall be 
given a reasonable opportunity of presenting a fresh written statement of defence. 

(9) The Central Government may, if required by the Speaker or the Chairman, or both, as the case 
may be, appoint an advocate to conduct the case against the Judge. 

4. **Report of Committee.**—(1)  Subject  to  any  rules  that  may  be  made  in  this  behalf,  the 
Committee shall have power to regulate its own procedure in making the investigation and shall give 
a reasonable opportunity to the Judge of cross-examining witnesses, adducing evidence and of being 
heard in his defence. 

(2) At the conclusion of the investigation, the Committee shall submit its report to the Speaker or, 
as  the  case  may  be,  to  the  Chairman,  or  where  the  Committee  has  been  constituted  jointly  by  the 
Speaker  and  the  Chairman,  to  both  of  them,  stating  therein  its  findings  on  each  of  the  charges 
separately with such observations on the whole case as it thinks fit. 

(3) The  Speaker  or  the  Chairman  or,  where  the  Committee  has  been  constituted  jointly  by  the 
Speaker and the Chairman, both of them, shall cause the report submitted under sub-section (2) to be 
laid, as soon as may be, respectively before the House of the People and the Council of States. 

5. **Powers of Committee.**—For  the  purpose  of  making  any  investigation  under  this  Act  the 
Committee  shall  have  the  powers  of  a  civil  court,  while  trying  a  suit,  under  the  Code  of  Civil 
Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), in respect of the following matters, namely:— 

  (a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath; 

  (b) requiring the discovery and production of documents; 

  (c) receiving evidence on oath; 

  (d) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or documents; 

  (e) such other matters as may be prescribed. 

6. **Consideration  of  report  and  procedure  for  presentation  of  an  address  for  removal 
of Judge.**—(1) If the report of the Committee contains a finding that the Judge is not guilty of any 
misbehaviour  or  does  not  suffer  from  any  incapacity,  then  no  further  steps  shall  be  taken  in  either 
House of Parliament in relation to the report and the motion pending in the House or the Houses of 
Parliament shall not be proceeded with. 

(2) If the report of the Committee contains a finding that the Judge is guilty of any misbehaviour 
or  suffers  from  any  incapacity,  then,  the  motion  referred  to  in  sub-section  (1)  of  section  3  shall, 
together with the report of the Committee, be taken up for consideration by the House or the Houses 
of Parliament in which it is pending. 

(3) If  the  motion  is  adopted  by  each  House  of  Parliament  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of 
clause (4) of article 124 or, as the case may be, in accordance with that clause read with article 218 of 
the  Constitution,  then,  the  misbehaviour  or  incapacity  of  the  Judge  shall  be  deemed  to  have  been 
proved  and  an  address  praying  for  the  removal  of  the  Judge  shall  be  presented  in  the  prescribed 
manner  to  the  President  by  each  House  of  Parliament  in  the  same  session  in  which  the  motion  has 
been adopted. 

7. **Power to make rules.**—(1) There  shall  be  constituted  a Joint  Committee  of  both  Houses  of 
Parliament in accordance with the provisions hereinafter contained for the purpose of making rules to 
carry out the purposes of this Act. 

(2) The Joint Committee shall consist of fifteen members of whom ten shall be nominated by the 
Speaker and five shall be nominated by the Chairman. 

(3) The  Joint  Committee  shall  elect  its  own  Chairman  and  shall  have  power  to  regulate  its 
own procedure. 

(4) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of sub-section (1), the Joint Committee 
may make rules to provide for the following among other matters, namely:— 

  (a) the  manner  of  transmission  of  a  motion  adopted  in  one  House  to  the  other  House  of 
Parliament; 

  (b) the manner of presentation of an address to the President for the removal of a Judge; 

  (c) the  travelling  and  other  allowances  payable  to  the  members  of  the  Committee  and  the 
witnesses who may be required to attend such Committee; 

  (d) the facilities which may be accorded to the Judge for defending himself; 

  (e) any other matter which has to be, or may be, provided for by rules or in respect of which 
provision is, in the opinion of the Joint Committee, necessary. 

(5) Any rules made under this section shall not take effect until they are approved and confirmed 
both by the Speaker and the Chairman and are published in the Official Gazette, and such publication 
of the rules shall be conclusive proof that they have been duly made.