Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu yesterday threw out an unprecedented bid to impeach the chief justice of the Supreme Court, rejecting accusations that the top judge in the world’s largest democracy had abused his authority.
Politicians from India’s two biggest parties have clashed over allegations against Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who is accused by opponents of a range of transgressions including illegally acquiring government land and corruption.
Naidu said the claims against the judge led by the opposition Congress Party were “neither tenable nor admissible”, quashing the bid.
“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,” Naidu, who is the chairman the upper house Rajya Sabha, said in his ruling.
Naidu said the MPs who presented the petition were unsure of their own case.
Page one of the petition used phrases such as “the facts and circumstances relating to Prasad Education Trust case saw prima facie evidence suggesting that the CJI ‘may have been’ involved in a conspiracy of paying illegal gratification...”
The motion also said that the CJI was “likely to fall” within the scope of investigation and that he “appears to have” anti-dated an administrative order.
“I am mentioning this fact because the phrases used by MPs themselves indicate a mere suspicion, a conjecture of an assumption. The same does not constitute prove ‘beyond reasonable doubt’, which is required to make out a case of ‘proved misbehaviour’ under Article 124 (4). Conversations between third parties with dubious credentials, which have been extensively relied upon, cannot themselves constitute any material evidence material against the holder of the office of the CJI,” the ruling said.
Opposition members last week moved the notice in the upper house to impeach Misra - the first effort in India’s history to depose a sitting chief justice.
It came after four judges in January publicly criticised Misra over the functioning of the top court, including distribution of sensitive cases and appointment of judges.
But the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the opposition of mounting a “revenge petition” and playing dirty politics.
Misra has refused requests to defer a controversial case concerning the demolition of the Babri Masjid, a centuries old mosque that was demolished in 1992 by a Hindu nationalists mob who said it was built on the site of a temple.
The topic remains a flashpoint issue and could have a bearing on next year’s general election, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be seeking a reelection.
Congress has vowed to appeal the decision by the vice-president, declaring it illegal.
It secured the support of 64 members of the Rajya Sabha - above the minimum 50 to move a motion - but the vice-president has final say on such motions.
Congress leader Kapi Sibal said opposition members who had signed the motion would move the Supreme Court challenging the rejection.
He said it was unprecedented that the motion has been rejected even before it was admitted.
Sibal, one of the main movers of the motion, hoped that the CJI would keep out of hearing the challenge petition.
“We will certainly move the petition in the Supreme Court to challenge this order. We are confident that when we move the Supreme Court, he has nothing to do with it so that it is heard and the serious issues which are constitutional in nature in which we determine whether we will bring transparency to the process of law will be decided by the court.”


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