Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday rejected the unprecedented notice by seven opposition parties led by the Congress to impeach CJI Dipak Misra on five grounds of “misbehaviour”, saying the allegations were neither “tenable nor admissible”. But the order by the vice president that came two days after the opposition parties launched the impeachment bid was slammed as “hasty” by the Congress, sparking a war of words with the ruling BJP. The notice was dismissed at the preliminary stage of the multi-step impeachment process. 

The order, which said that the Notice of Motion does not deserve to be admitted, also drew a mixed response among the legal fraternity. It was given shortly before the SC reassembled after the weekend recess. 

Unruffled by the move seeking his removal, CJI Misra on Monday presided over Supreme Court number 1 — although there were some anxious moments initially — with usual ease. Monday’s proceedings started 13 to 14 minutes late instead of the normal 10.30 am as the CJI and other judges held a longer than usual morning meeting, amid speculation that they discussed the notice.

Leaders of seven opposition parties had on Friday met Naidu and handed over the notice of impeachment against the CJI bearing signatures of 64 MPs and seven former members, who recently retired.

Naidu said the allegations emerging from the present case have a

“serious tendency” of undermining the independence of judiciary which is the basic tenet of the Constitution of India. “I have considered the material contained in the Notice of Motion and reflected upon the inputs received in my interaction with legal luminaries and constitutional experts, I am of the firm opinion that the Notice of Motion does not deserve to be admitted. I refuse to admit the Notice of Motion,” he said.

Naidu said he had detailed personal conversation on all aspects arising from the notice and had considered each of the allegations made in it individually as well as collectively. “Clearly this is an internal matter to be resolved by the Supreme court itself. Going through the five allegations mentioned in the notice, I am of the view that they are neither tenable nor admissible. Based on all this, I have come to the conclusion that this motion does not deserve to be admitted...On careful analysis and reflection, I find there is virtually no concrete verifiable imputation,” he said.

The chairman said that after having perused annexures to the motion, detailed consultations and studied opinions of constitutional experts, he was “satisfied that admission of this Notice of Motion is neither desirable nor proper on any of these grounds”. Naidu also held that “we cannot allow any of our pillars of governance to be weakened by any thought, word or action.”  

Congress leader Kapil Sibal said the order jeopardised the country’s legal system and alleged that the government was not keen to see a probe into the case. “The order is unprecedented, illegal, ill-advised and hasty,” Sibal said, adding, “We will certainly move a petition in the SC to challenge this order.”  

Jurist Fali S Nariman said, “The grounds raised in the impeachment notice are not of sufficient gravity. When you have a man like the CJI, the notice has to have something that is far more important than just saying he did not do this or that. The VP has rightly rejected the notice.”