Moments after submitting the impeachment notice against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra on Friday, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad stressed that the Congress had sought an appointment with Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu a week ago. The remark was meant to underscore that the move was not a “revenge petition” against the Supreme Court for dismissing pleas for an investigation into the death of CBI Special Judge B.H. Loya.
Congress leaders suggest that the impeachment motion is the first step in what could turn out to be a long-drawn battle.
Constitutional right
“It is a constitutional right of the MPs which has been exercised and further steps will also happen. First, under the Judges Inquiry Act and then under other constitutional provisions,” Congress Rajya Sabha member and lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi told The Hindu .
Mr. Singhvi had earlier opposed the impeachment move and was reluctant to sign the motion submitted to the Vice-President. Former Ministers Ashwani Kumar, Salman Khursid and Manish Tewari had also expressed reservations, but the Congress seems to working to a plan, assuming that Mr. Naidu may not admit the motion.
Asked what would the Congress do, if the Rajya Sabha Chairman rejects the notice, Kapil Sibal, one of the driving forces behind the Opposition move, said, “We will let you know then. There are many provisions in the Constitution.”
Judicial challenge
If the motion is rejected, there are indications that the Congress and other parties who signed the petition could approach the Supreme Court to challenge the Chairman’s order. And since the matter relates to the CJI, it has to be heard by judges who are next in line in terms of seniority and experience.
If the motion does get accepted by Mr. Naidu, then a three-member Committee of a Supreme Court judge, the Chief Justice of a High Court and an eminent jurist will be formed to examine the charges against the CJI.
“The convention is that once a judge faces impeachment proceedings, then the judge in question does not decide judicial matters. Since there have been only a few instances in the past of High Court judges facing impeachment, the Chief Justice of the particular High Court usually didn’t assign cases to such a judge. But right now, the situation is without a precedent,” a Congress leader said.
On Friday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley called the impeachment notice a “revenge petition”, and accused the Congress of using it as a “political tool”.
Inadequate numbers
In the Rajya Sabha, support of 164 out of 244 MPs are needed to carry an impeachment motion through. And with the Opposition divided and the Trinamool and the DMK refusing to be part of the petition, the numbers look unachievable. In the Lok Sabha, the number is 360 and simply beyond the Opposition’s reach.
But Congress members argue that the functioning of the CJI has raised serious questions of “judicial independence and institutional integrity” while defending the move.
“You have got to do what you have got to do. Unprecedented situations call for extraordinary measures,” Jairam Ramesh told The Hindu .
