Opposition Meets to Discuss Impeachment Motion Against CJI
The Opposition called for a meeting on Friday by senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, which comes days after the party had said that the option of moving an impeachment motion against the CJI was still open.
Opposition parties including the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Communist Party of India, and the Nationalist Congress Party reportedly attended the meeting.
Congress leaders had earlier remarked that the issues raised by four senior-most Supreme Court judges have not been addressed yet by the CJI.
During the Budget Session that concluded earlier this month, the Congress had initiated a move collecting more than 50 signatures of Rajya Sabha members in a bid to table the motion, but there were reservations from parties like the Trinamool Congress.
The Congress kept the move on hold, saying it wanted to get as much support as possible from other parties. CJI Misra is scheduled to retire in October 2018.
Suicidal Future Move of the Congress: Jaitley
The Congress' intention to move the SC challenging the rejection of its impeachment motion against the Chief Justice by the Rajya Sabha Chairman, is "a suicidal future move", Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday.
Within hours of Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu rejecting the impeachment motion, moved by Congress and six other parties, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said on Monday that the party would move the SC to challenge the decision.
"A suicidal future move of the Congress", Jaitley said on the party's intention to approach the apex court against Naidu's decision.
The senior BJP leader said in a Facebook post that the Chairman/Speaker of either House of Parliament has the sole discretion whether to admit the motion or to decline to do so.
"The power to admit or to decline a motion is part of the legislative process of Parliament," he said, adding that Parliament is supreme in its own jurisdiction and its process cannot be subjected to judicial review.
Cong Impeachment Notice Against CJI Wrong: Mamata
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday, 24 April that the Congress was wrong in giving an impeachment notice against CJI Dipak Misra.
The Trinamoool Congress did not support the impeachment move, she said.
"The Congress wanted us to support it. But we did not," she told News18 Bangla channel. "I told Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi not to go for impeachment."
Decision to Reject CJI Impeachment Not Hasty: Naidu
A day after Venkaiah Naidu rejected the impeachment motion against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, the Rajya Sabha chairman clarified that his decision was "timely and not a hasty one". He further added that it came after over a month of due diligence, according to sources.
Freedom of expression allows that but ultimately truth prevails. I have done the just thing in the best possible manner expected of me. I have done my job and am satisfied with it.Sources Quoting Naidu
Naidu said his decision was in strict conformity with the provisions of the Constitution and the Judges Inquiry Act of 1968.
The Rajya Sabha chairman's office is not a mere post office but a constitutional functionary, Naidu was quoted as telling a group of 10 Supreme Court lawyers who met him to compliment him over the decision.
According to sources, Naidu said the CJI is the highest judicial functionary of the country and "any issue in public domain concerning him requires to be resolved at the earliest following prescribed procedures so as to prevent the atmosphere from being further vitiated."
Naidu's Move Shows Non-Application of Mind: Yechury
Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu's decision to reject the opposition's impeachment plea of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra was done with a "certain degree of non-application of mind".
"I am sorry to say that about the honourable Vice President and Chairman of Rajya Sabha (Naidu), but I think that the methods, that had been very clearly laid down – both in the constitutional procedures and the rules – have not been followed," Yechury told PTI.
He said the presiding officer of either House, in which the impeachment motion has been moved, does not have the discretion to independently decide about the validity of the motion. The motion needs to be referred to a three-member committee, which normally should include a Supreme Court judge, a high court chief justice and a jurist.