Seven opposition parties, led by the Congress, had sought the impeachment of CJI Dipak Misra accusing him of corruption, misusing his authority and failing to protect the independence of the judiciary.
Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Monday hit out at Rajya Sabha chairperson and Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu for rejecting the impeachment notice against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and said he was not surprised by the latter’s decision. Taking to Twitter, Singhvi said, “Expectedly, Sh Naidu rejected imp’ment motion. Unexpectedly, he did so within one day of returning from outstn. Hopefully, the alacrity was not intended to render infructuous calls for CJI to stop Admn work. “The reaction came minutes after Naidu rejected the notice saying it lacked ‘substantial merit’.
Seven Opposition parties, led by the Congress, had sought the impeachment of CJI Dipak Misra accusing him of corruption, misusing his authority and failing to protect the independence of the judiciary. Leaders of the seven parties met with Vice-President Naidu last week and handed over a notice bearing signatures of 64 MPs and seven former MPs, who recently retired. Trinamool Congress and the DMK were not part of the move.
Highlights
On Friday seven opposition parties submitted to vice president M Venkaiah Naidu, chairman of Rajya Sabha, a notice for a motion of impeachment against CJI Deepak Misra. On Monday Naidu refused to admit the notice of motion. Read |
Kapil Sibal, in his press conference, said the charges against CJI Dipak Misra are grave and the Congress will move Supreme Court against Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu's decision to reject the impeachment motion. "We'll certainly file a petition (in Supreme Court) against this & would want the CJI to not take any decision with respect to it, be it the listing or anything else, we'll accept whatever SC decides," he said.
Kapil Sibal termed Venkaiah Naidu's decision to reject impeachment motion illegal, unprecedented, and hasty. He further said the government appears to be in a tearing hurry to block the attempts at an enquiry.
Congress leader and senior advocate Kapil Sibal addressed a press conference in response to the objections raised by Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu in his order rejecting the impeachment motion against the Chief Justice of India.
Welcoming the decision, BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said the vice-president applied his mind and gave a detailed order. "I must express my gratefulness to the vice-president who has applied his mind and gave a detailed order. The second aspect is regarding the complaint itself. It is a major wrong. The language itself in which it has been drafted says it appears, prima facie it appears, it looks," she said.
Eminent jurist Fali S Nariman said the issues raised in the impeachment notice against the CJI were not of "sufficient gravity and rightly rejected" by the vice-president. "When you have a man like the chief justice of the Supreme Court, it (impeachment notice) has to have something that is far more important than just saying he did not do this or that. The vice president has the statutory authority and he has rightly rejected the notice," Nariman said.
In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, "The Supreme Court is being muzzled and crushed. People have lost faith in the judiciary."
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu rejected the notice submitted by seven opposition parties for a motion for the impeachment of Chief Justice of India citing “absence of credible and verifiable information”. “In the absence of credible and verifiable information placed before me which gives an indication of ‘misbehaviour’ or ‘incapacity’, it would be an inappropriate and irresponsible act to accept statements which have little empirical basis. As heirs to an illustrious democratic tradition and custodians of the present and future of democratic polity, we should, in my view, collectively strengthen and not erode the foundations of the grand edifice bequeathed to us by the Constitution makers. We cannot allow any of our pillars of governance to be weakened by an thought, word or action. ..In the end after having perused annexures to the motion and having detailed consultations and having studied the opinions of Constitutional experts, I am satisfied that admission of this Notice of Motion is neither desirable nor proper,” Naidu wrote in a 10-page order refusing to admit the notice of the motion.
Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal had earlier told The Indian Express that it would be a breach of privilege if the chairman rejected the notice. "According to me, it would be a breach of privilege (if the chairman rejects it) because we have a privilege to move the motion under the Constitution. That’s a serious issue again. That is something we will have to consider," he said.
Eminent jurist and former Attorney General of India Soli Sorabjee welcomed the decision to reject the impeachment notice against CJI Dipak Misra, saying Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu had "rightly applied his mind". "The vice-president has applied his mind. He has consulted legal experts and has come to a decision. We did not want the matter hanging indefinitely. He has gone into the matter and has found no merit in it and no ground for impeachment, therefore, he rejected it," he said.
While reiterating that the Rajya Sabha chairman cannot adjudge the notice, AICC spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "RS Chairman can’t adjudge the motion, for he has no mandate to decide the merits of the motion. This is truly a fight between forces ‘Rejecting Democracy’ & voices ‘Rescuing Democracy’."
Congress leader Tehseen Poonawalla also said that the impeachment grounds are not for the vice-president to decide upon.
According to sources, the Congress is likely to move the Supreme Court against the order of the Rajya Sabha chairman, PTI reported.
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who extended his support to the decision, said, "He (Naidu) has decided correctly. He need not have taken two days to make the decision. It should've been considered null and void and thrown out from the beginning. The Congress had committed suicide by doing this."
Reacting to the move, noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan said Naidu has no power to say that "charges are not made out". Taking to Twitter, Bhushan said, "What!! VP Naidu rejects impeachment motion against CJI signed by 64 RS MPs! On what grounds? He has no power to say that charges are not made out."
Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu Monday rejected a notice by seven Opposition parties led by the Congress seeking the impeachment of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. Naidu, also the Rajya Sabha Chairman, had consulted legal experts over the weekend following the notice issued by the Opposition members. Naidu rejected the notice saying it lacked ‘substantial merit’. The order comes minutes before the Supreme Court convenes for the day.