The Congress said on Monday it will challenge in the Supreme Court a decision by Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu to reject a notice seeking the removal of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, news agencies reported.
At a press conference, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said his party was of the view that the move by Naidu, who is also the Vice President of India, was “illegal” and hasty.
“The order by the Chairman is unprecedented, illegal, wrong and unconstitutional,” the former law minister said. “It is illegal because the chairman has passed the order which is required to be passed after conducting an enquiry.”
On Twitter, Congress’s Randeep Surjewala posted that the Rajya Sabha chairman “can’t adjudge the motion, for he has no mandate to decide the merits of the motion”.
READ: Why Venkaiah Naidu rejected notice seeking impeachment of CJI: 5 points
Seven opposition parties led by the Congress had last week moved a notice before Naidu for the impeachment of the CJI on five grounds of alleged “misbehaviour”.
The petition was signed by 64 serving members of the Rajya Sabha. A motion to remove the CJI has to have signatures of 50 Rajya Sabha members or 100 Lok Sabha members.
Naidu based his decision to reject the motion on the opinion of top legal and constitutional experts, including former secretary generals of Lok Sabha and other legal luminaries with whom he held extensive consultations, PTI reported.
“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 said in a signed order shared with journalists.
“Considering the totality of facts, I am of the firm opinion that it is neither legal nor desirable or proper to admit the notice of motion on any of these grounds.”
Source: HindustanTimes