CJI Dipak Misra impeachment: V-P Naidu rejects motion, sees no merit in it
M Venkaiah Naidu, vice-President of India and the Rajya Sabha chairman, on Monday rejected the impeachment notice sent by seven Opposition parties, led by the Congress, against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. “I have applied my mind to all five charges made out in the impeachment motion and examined all annexed documents. All facts as stated in the motion don't make out a case which can lead any reasonable mind to conclude that CJI on these facts can ever be held guilty of misbehaviour,� said VicePresident M Venkaiah Naidu. Here are the top developments around the impeachment motion against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra: Venkaiah Naidu rejects impeachment motion: Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Monday rejected the impeachment motion moved by seven Congress-led Opposition parties against CJI Dipak Misra. After facing a persistent
pressure from the Opposition, Naidu had earlier held consultations on the impeachment notice with constitutional and legal experts. Naidu had on Sunday cut short his visit to Hyderabad and reached the capital to speak to former Lok Sabha secretary general Subhash Kashyap, ex-law secretary P K Malhotra and former legislative secretary Sanjay Singh on the matter.The Vice-President met former Supreme Court judge Sudarshan Reddy and also held talks with senior officials of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat. BJP should refrain from defending the CJI, warned Congress: The Congress had earlier attacked the BJP for coming out in the defense of the CJI who is facing the impeachment motion against him by the seven Opposition parties. Congress Spokesperson Rajdeep Surjewala said that the ruling party should not compromise the position and office of the Chief Justice as a neutral authority and head of the judiciary.Surjewala's comments came in the wake of media reports that the CJI had decided not to recuse himself from administrative and judicial work in the Supreme Court. The central government was doing a great disservice to the independence of the Indian judicial system, the Congress minister further had added.The CJI should refrain from exercising any judicial or administrative duties and submit himself to an inquiry so that the high office and his individual integrity are cleared to regain the public faith."Does the CJI belong to a political party, ruling or otherwise? Does the CJI have to be defended by political parties or ministers in the government? Is it not a disservice to the CJI office? They are compromising the position and office of the CJI," Surjewala expressed.Congress had asked the Chief Justice Dipak Misra to inform the BJP not to politicise his high office and the impeachment motion. The BJP has said the Congress was trying to demean, degrade and denigrate the judiciary by moving the impeachment motion. Impeachment motion "unfortunate", "suicidal" and "dangerous": It wasn't just the ruling BJP that had condemned the parties of the Opposition that moved the impeachment notice against the CJI. Several legal officials had described the opposition's move to impeach Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra as "unfortunate", "suicidal" and "dangerous".Commenting on the motion against CJI Misra, former Chief Justice of India, T S Thakur, had dubbed the crisis as "unfortunate", while former Supreme Court Judge B Sudershan Reddy termed it "suicidal and dangerous". He also added that “this is very unfortunate that the top judiciary is faced with such crisis."Former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash C Kashyap said the move was "pure party politics". He added that under Article 124 of the Constitution, only the President can be impeached and there is nothing like the impeachment of a Judge. Kashyap also contended that the impeachment move is "not likely to succeed at all".Former Delhi High Court Judge R S Sodhi, a practising senior counsel in the Supreme Court, said it was the "most immature move" and a "political hara-kiri" by the Congress that deceives logic. Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Reddy expressed his concern that he found no substance in the charges against the CJI and that "it is suicidal on part of the political
parties which have moved the impeachment motion". He also claimed, "there is no material to establish the charge of any misbehaviour on part of the Chief Justice", adding that "irregularities do not amount to misbehaviour". Additional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain commented on the impeachment issue and said that move by opposition parties against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra is “politically motivated and this seems to be an attempt to intimidate judiciary and give message that if you don't decide on cases as per our wishes, we'll indulge in character assassination of judges”.BJD was not in favour of impeachment motion against CJI: The Naveen Patnaik-led BJD, though being an Opposition party, was not in the favour of the impeachment motion against the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra."Impeachment notice against the CJI should be given on rare occasion. There is no point in demeaning the post of the CJI," said the BJD spokesman.The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) members had signed the impeachment notice but backed out later. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) members did not sign. Other notables who did not sign were former prime minister Manmohan Singh and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram.Supreme Court judges said they were 'disturbed': At the recent course of developments, there was a simmering discontent among the judges and the apex judiciary had turned into a conflagration of sorts. The Supreme Court has described the public statements over the issues as “very unfortunate”, including those made by lawmakers, on the impeachment of apex court judges."We are all very disturbed about it," a bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan expressed after the counsel appearing for the petitioner raised the matter of politicians making public statements on the impeachment of judges. Even the Congress reconsidered its decision to initiate the impeachment process, and the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) too had reservations.But the strong effort and will of Kapil Sibal, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Sitaram Yechury, prompted the Congress and other Opposition parties to go ahead with their move against Dipak Misra (CJI).According to Congress leaders, former prime minister Manmohan Singh did not sign but supported the move. He said, a former PM should not disrespect the office and position of the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram too did not sign. How can the Chief Justice of India be impeached? To move an impeachment motion against the Chief Justice of India (CJI), signatures of 100 MPs are required in the Lok Sabha and in the Rajya Sabha, signatures of over 50 members are needed. The motion can be introduced by in either of the House. Irrespective of which House introduces the motion, according to the Indian Constitution, it will have to be passed by the other House as well. Only after gaining a two-thirds majority in both the Houses, will the motion finally get passed to the President of India.In this case, if the motion is passed in both the Houses, President Ram Nath Kovind will take the final decision.Anger against CJI Dipak Misra: On the grounds of administrative and judicial irregularity in the apex court, on January 11, four top-level Supreme Court (SC) judges, had in a press conference, made complaints against Dipak
Misra.
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