CJI Impeachment: SC Dismisses Cong Plea As Withdrawn

New Delhi: Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the petition, challenging Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu’s rejection of the impeachment motion against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, as withdrawn.

Two Rajya Sabha Congress Parliamentarians Pratap Singh Bajwa and Amee Harshadray Yajnik, who had moved the apex court in this regard on Monday, withdrew their plea this morning.

The plea was taken up by five-judge bench of Justice A K Sikri, SA Bobde, NV Ramana, Arun Mishra and AK Goel.

Senior advocate and Congress leader Kapil Sibal had raised objections on the setting up of the five-judge Constitution Bench to hear the matter and also sought a copy of the order on setting up of the bench, saying they intended to challenge it.

“The impugned order proceeds on an erroneous assumption in law that the chairman/speaker, exercises quasi-judicial powers to determine whether to admit or not to admit a notice of motion and whether to constitute the aforesaid committee,” the petition had read.

On April 23, Naidu had rejected the impeachment notice against the CJI given by seven opposition parties led by the Congress on five grounds of ‘misbehaviour’. This was the first time that an impeachment notice was filed against a sitting CJI.