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Congress set to move SC against rejection of CJI’s impeachment motion

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Senior advocate & Congress leader Kapil Sibal calls Vice-President’s decision ‘hasty and illegal’, clarifies that he won’t appear in any case before CJI Misra.

New Delhi: The Congress is set to move the Supreme Court against Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu’s rejection of the motion to impeach Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

Sources told ThePrint that a petition is likely to be filed before the apex court as early as Tuesday.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal termed Rajya Sabha Chairman Naidu’s decision “hasty and illegal”, and said he should have consulted the collegium before rejecting the motion.

“We will accept whatever the court says, but we do not want the CJI to have anything to do with it, be it the listing or anything else,” Sibal said.

Naidu’s objections

The announcement came hours after Naidu rejected the motion, saying it was “neither legal nor desirable or proper” to admit it.

Seven opposition parties led by the Congress had last week moved a notice before Naidu for impeaching the CJI on five grounds of “misbehaviour”.

Naidu said that constitutionally, there is an obligation on MPs to “prove” misbehaviour before the parliamentary procedure can come into play. The Vice-President held that the allegations emerging from the present case would tend towards “undermining” the independence of the judiciary.

Sibal won’t appear before CJI

Sibal, also a senior advocate, said he would not appear before the CJI in the Supreme Court as he is one of the 64 parliamentarians to have signed the motion for impeachment. Veteran lawyers including Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Vivek Tankha and K.T.S. Tulsi have also signed the motion. Significantly, former union minister and senior advocate P. Chidambaram did not sign the motion.

This effectively means that Sibal will not be appearing in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case that is being heard by a CJI-led three-judge bench.

Apart from this controversial case, Sibal is the leading counsel in many other constitutional cases, including one examining the privacy policy of instant messaging service WhatsApp. Sibal was engaged by WhatsApp.

Tankha endorsed Sibal’s view, saying it is “just basic minimum professional standard” for lawyer-MPs who have signed the motion to refrain from arguing before a CJI-led bench.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. Many things can happen to mango man of this country if submits a wrong affidavit . But for CJI , it’s not a crime . How come he became a CJI when there was a proven fact that he had submitted a false affidavit . Isn’t it a blot or criminal act on the part of any citizen of this country . Tomorrow , how can a court punish a person for submitting a false affidavit .

  2. Proving misbehaviour or misconduct by a respected member of the judiciary lies beyond the professional competence of members of Parliament who move a motion of impeachment. That is the solemn task and duty of the three member Committee appointed by the Presiding Officer. A review of the small number of impeachment motions that have been presented so far does not suggest that the provision has been misused or invoked for partisan purposes. 2. It is Shri Kapil Sibal’s choice not to appear before the learned CJI. However, lawyers earn their daily bread in court. It is expected that a judge would not allow personal factors to intrude if a lawyer who has signed the motion appears before him in his professional capacity.

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