‘REVENGE’ PETITION TO IMPEACH CJI
SAYS JAITLEY, AS OPPOSITION PARTIES ACCUSE MISRA OF ‘MISBEHAVIOUR’ AND ‘MISUSING’ AUTHORITY
In an unprecedented move, the Congress and six other Opposition parties on Friday moved a notice for the impeachment of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, accusing him of five counts of “misbehaviour” and “misusing” authority.
The Opposition parties first met in the room of Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and then proceeded to meet Vice-President and Rajya Sabha chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu.
They handed over a notice for the impeachment of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) with signatures of 64 MPs of the Upper House. However, some dissenting notes from within the Congress also emerged during the day. Interestingly, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was not one of the signa- tories to the impeachment notice. Any decision on the admission of the impeachment notice against the CJI is likely to be taken by the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, following legal consultations.
Accusing the Congress of using impeachment as a political tool, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Friday termed its notice to remove Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra a “revenge petition” after the Supreme Court’s judgement in Judge Loya death case had “exposed” the conspiracy of falsehood.
Addressing a joint press conference of the Congress, Left parties and the NCP, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said, “We wish this day had never come. He said the step has been taken “with a heavy heart” to protect the independence of the judiciary.
In an unprecedented move, the Congress and six other Opposition parties on Friday moved a notice for the impeachment of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, accusing him of five counts of “misbehaviour” and “misusing” authority.
“As representatives of the people, we are entitled to hold the Chief Justice accountable, just as we are accountable to the people. The majesty of the law is more important than the majesty of any office,” Mr Sibal said.
The MPs who signed the notice belong to the Congress, the NCP, the CPM, the CPI, the SP, the Bahujan Samajwadi Party and the Indian Union Muslim League. The Trinamul, DMK, RJD and some other parties backed out from supporting the move.
Asked why other important leaders did not sign the notice, Mr Sibal said, “We didn’t want a few others to be embarrassed as certain matters are pending.”
The Congress vehemently denied the charge that it was moving an impeachment notice as the petition in the death of Judge Loya was rejected by the apex court.
Mr Azad said that they (opposition parties) had sought time with the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha about a week back. He further added, “The process had begun almost a month back during the second part of the budget session, the signatures are also dated.”
On being asked why the impeachment notice was being given now Mr Sibal said, “We were hoping that the anguish of the four senior judges of the Supreme Court as reflected in their statements to the Press would be addressed by the Chief Justice and the Chief Justice in response would set his house in order. More than three months have passed. Nothing has changed.”