VP Venkaiah Naidu Rejects ‘Improper’ Congress Led Impeachment Motion Against CJI Dipak Misra

Vice President (VP) Venkaiah Naidu has rejected the Congress-led Impeachment motion against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra citing that the case has no legal standing and is hence neither desirable nor proper.

Seven opposition parties, led by Congress, had filed a notice for the removal of CJI on basis of five alleged ‘misbehaviours’, making it the first time in the country’s history that such a motion was initiated against the top post of the Indian judiciary.

Naidu, being the VP, chairs the Rajya Sabha and rejected the motion after having detailed consultations with constitutional experts on the issue.

Naidu took cognisance of Article 124(4)‘s language that mandates that a parliamentary procedure for an impeachment motion can be initiated only after there are instances of ‘proved misbehaviour’ and ‘incapacity’, as reported by Live Law.

Naidu noted that the impeachment notice constituted ‘mere suspicion, a conjecture or an assumption’ and couldn’t prove beyond reasonable doubt the alleged misbehaviours by the CJI, as conversations between entities with ‘dubious credentials’ couldn’t be considered as valid evidences.

“The allegations emerging from the present case have a serious tendency of undermining the independence of judiciary which is the basic tenet of the Constitution of India,” Naidu observed while rejecting the motion.

“We cannot allow any of our pillars of governance to be weakened by any thought, word, or action,” he added.

The VP’s decision has been backed by legal experts slamming the opposition parties for filing an unnecessary an ill-advised motion.