Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Monday said the party would approach the Supreme Court to challenge Rajya Sabha Chairperson Venkaiah Naidu’s decision to reject the impeachment notice against Chief Justice Dipak Misra.
Earlier in the day, Naidu dismissed a motion to start impeachment proceedings against Misra, which had been moved by the Congress and other Opposition parties last week.
The Opposition has listed five charges against Misra, who has been under fire both from within the Supreme Court as well as outside. On Monday, Naidu concluded that the allegations were simply “unsubstantiated surmises and conjectures”. Soon after, Congress Spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala reacted saying that the vice president does not have mandate to dismiss the notice.
At a press conference on Monday afternoon, Kapil Sibal said Naidu’s decision was unprecedented, ill-advised and hasty. He claimed it was their “privilege to move the motion”. Referring to Naidu’s contention that the Opposition had not proved the charges, Sibal said the onus of proving them was not on the MPs who had moved the nbut on the judicial committee that would have been formed had the motion been admitted.
“The order shattered the confidence of the people and jeopardised the legal system,” Sibal added. “We will ensure the CJI would have nothing to do with this petition.”
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