V-P may take time to decide on motion

NEW DELHI: Seven Opposition parties led by the Congress on Friday initiated an unprecedented step to impeach Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, moving a notice accusing him of "misbehaviour" and "misuse" of authority. However, the notice will not become a motion unless Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu takes it up and a decision by the V-P in this regard is certain to take some time.

In a report, the DNA website observed that Naidu, in his capacity as Rajya Sabha Chairman, has to decide whether to quash the notice or let the process of impeachment go further. The precedent in such cases has been to admit the notice . The only time a notice for impeachment was rejected was in 1970 when the then Chief Justice reached out to the Lok Sabha Speaker and convinced him that the issue was frivolous.

So far, no judge has been impeached in India, the DNA web report pointed out. If such a motion is admitted, a three-member committee of a senior Supreme Court judge, a High Court judge and a prominent jurist is formed to investigate the charges, added the DNA website. If the committee agrees, then the matter is taken up for discussion in the House and must be passed by a special majority. The motion is then taken up in the next House where it needs to be passed by a two-thirds majority. When both Houses have passed it, the President is approached.

Impeachment is a long-drawn process that is unlikely to be completed in six months, the span of CJI Misra's remaining tenure. A senior Congress opined that the notice would symbolise a moment and serve as a warning to future top judges to use their authority judiciously. Also, it is not possible for the Opposition to muster the two-thirds majority required in both Houses to push through the motion, the DNA web report pointed out.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Vijay Goel said on Saturday that the notice for impeachment of the CJI given by the Congress is an "attack on the judiciary" and is "politically motivated".