April 23, 2018: In a blow to the opposition parties lead by Congress vice president and chairman of Rajya Sabha M Venkaiah Naidu rejected the notice for motion of impeachment of Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra.
Naidu cited lack of merit in the charges leveled by the opposition after deliberating on all the aspects of the notice with legal and constitution experts. Notice was moved by 64 sitting members from 7 opposition parties.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has listed reasons for rejecting the notice given by opposition parties led by the Congress for impeachment of CJI Dipak Misra primarily citing lack of any substantial merit in it.
In a detailed 10 page order, Naidu stated that he held extensive consultations with top legal and constitutional experts on the matter before taking the decision. In the order naidu also states that he had detailed discussion with Attorney general as well as other legal experts to consider all the charges made by the opposition members and concluded that the motion does not deserve to be admitted.
He cited article 124(4) of the constitution which says that for such motion to be submitted proved misbehaviour and incapacity has to be proved. In absence of creditable and verifiable information which gives an indication of misbehaviour or incapacity, the motion was not considered.
Further the order comes down hard on the opposition members who have moved the notice. Naidu observes that the opposition members have certain words and phrases which imply that even they were not sure of the charges against the CJI. Rejecting the motion as neither desirable nor proper the chairman of rajya sabha also disapproved of the conduct of the opposition who addressed a press conference after submitting the notice in contravention of said rules and regulations.
Vice President re-scheduled his travel plans to deal with the notice expeditely as he held the consultations with such experts given the importance of the situation, a fact that finds mention in his order too, which says that spate of statements in the press seemed to be vitiating the atmosphere , making him take a decision and end the needlees speculation.
Seven opposition parties led by the Congress had last week moved a notice before him for impeachment of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) on five grounds of “misbehaviour”. This was the first time ever that an impeachment notice has been filed against a sitting CJI.
BJP senior leader and union minister Ananth Kumar has said that Congress is not able to digest being away from power. He added that the motion amounts to contempt of court.
BJP leader Subramanyam Swami has said that Venkaiah Naidu’s decision of rejecting CJI impeachment motion is correct. He said that with the impeachment motion, the Congress has tried to malign the image of judiciary.
The Congress meanwhile has called the order of the rajya sabha chairman M venkaiah NAidu illegal and said that it was passed without full-fledged enquiry. The party has now said that it will challenge the same in the apex court.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra has said that Congress is engaging in irresponsible statements. Addressing a press conferencem he said that this is a fight for democracy. Sambit Patra also said that those who do not trust the constitutional institutions of the country are attacking the constitution. (Courtesy: DD News)
