History repeats: As judge faces impeachment, a century-old tale of punishment resurfaces

At the heart of the current controversy is Justice Yashwant Varma, a senior judge at the Allahabad High Court.

Thiruvananthapuram: Lawmakers in the country are pursuing the impeachment of a high court judge after bundles of charred currency notes were discovered on the premises of his official residence.

The extraordinary move, admitted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, finds a historical parallel from 190 years ago, when a king in the princely state of Travancore took similarly severe action against a corrupt judge.

The trouble began on a single day in March, when a startling discovery was made on the premises of his official residence bundles of currency notes, partially destroyed by fire.

Historical records suggest that a king had taken similar stringent actions against a corrupt judge in the princely state of Travancore 190 years ago.

Swathi Thirunal, the visionary king of the erstwhile princely state of Travancore (south Kerala), ordered to keep a judge in house custody and arrest him later after he was found to be corrupt and passed a judgement "against truth and justice" in a murder case in the year 1835.

The royal proclamation, pronounced by the then diwan (prime minister) Subba Rao on behalf of the king in this regard, is now part of the "Selected Government Edicts" published in 2005 by the Kerala State Archives Department, Government of Kerala.

As per the historical edict, the king urged the people of his princely state to apprehend and hand over to the officials Kunchu Pandalai, a first judge of the appeal court.

It said that the judge had gone absconding after passing the wrong judgement in the murder case.

"Calling on the public to apprehend and hand over to the officers of the Government Kunchu Pandalai Ag. First Judge of the Appeal Court, who was absconding after passing judgement in a murder case against truth and justice," the nearly two century-old edict said.

As per the detailed royal proclamation, Pandalai was a judge in a court in Alappuzha, a part of the then Travancore.

As he passed a biased judgement in the case, he was directed to be tried and kept in house custody by the royal administration, it said.

Judge Pandalai had gone absconding in the wake of the developments, and so the Diwan, on behalf of the King, issued the edict urging people to pass on any information if they had about him.

"If anybody came to know about him travelling or hiding anywhere, he should be caught and handed over to the tahasildar, parvatyakar (village officer) or ranakkar (policemen) immediately," the edict said.

However, no historical records could be found about whether the absconding corrupt judge was nabbed or what punishment was awarded to him.

Eminent historian T P Sankarankutty Nair said Travancore royals were very particular in the strict maintenance of rules and regulations and had taken up stringent measures against corrupt practices.

"Whoever had committed wrong, stringent actions had been initiated against them. There had been no difference in their stand whether the misdeeds were done by any royal official or a judge," he told PTI.

Nair also cited the example of the transfer of a judge following complaints of biased judgement in Travancore when John Munro was serving as the British resident and Diwan of the princely state during early 1800s.

Allegations cropped up against a judge in Nagercoil (then part of Travancore and now in Tamil Nadu) that he was showing favouritism to the culprits belonging to a particular religion.

"There were records that the Diwan immediately transferred the judge following the allegations. But no records show whether any punishment was awarded to him," the historian said.

There were also historical documents which indicated that the royal administration gave strict directions to judges, barring them from mingling with the public to ensure unbiased judgements.