Rajya Sabha chairman says MPs who moved impeachment notice against Chief Justice Dipak Misra were “unsure of their own case”

In an expected, albeit controversial, move, Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu, on Monday (April 23), rejected the impeachment notice moved by a section of Opposition MPs that sought to initiate proceedings for the removal of Chief Justice Dipak Misra under provisions of Article 124 (4) of the Constitution.

The Congress, along with MPs from other Opposition parties like the CPI, CPI (M), NCP, SP, BSP and the IUML, had, in their notice for the removal of the Chief Justice alleged that there was “prima facie evidence suggesting that Chief Justice Dipak Misra may have been involved in the conspiracy of paying illegal gratification in the (Prasad Education Trust) case which at least warrants a thorough investigation.” The notice was handed over to Naidu on Friday.

However, in a swift decision, which Rajya Sabha sources claimed was intended to avoid an “uncomfortable situation” for the head of the country’s apex judicial body, Naidu rejected the notice on Monday, apparently after consultations with Attorney-General KK Venugopal, retired Supreme Court judge Sudarshan Reddy, former Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha Subhash Kashyap, the former Law Secretary P.K. Malhotra, the former Legislative Secretary of the Rajya Sabha Sanjay Singh and senior officials of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat. These discussions are said to have taken place through the weekend.

In the final order rejecting the notice that was signed by Naidu on Monday morning, the Rajya Sabha Chairman has held that the MPs who moved the notice “were unsure of their own case.”

Please read the full order by the Vice-President here.

This is a developing story, more details to follow

— India Legal Bureau