V-P’s order justifiable: Experts

New Delhi: Well-known jurist Soli Sorabjee hailed vice-president Venkaiah Naidu’s decision of rejecting the impeachment motion submitted by seven political parties. He said that Mr Naidu has rightly applied his mind and took this decision after consulting experts.

Mr Sorabjee said that Mr Naidu had gone into the depths of the matter and found no merit in it and no ground for impeachment and has thus taken the decision without any delay. Regarding the matter being challenged in the Supreme Court, he said that they have no chance to succeed.

On Monday, eminent jurist Fali S. Nariman said the issues raised in the impeachment notice against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra were not of “sufficient gravity and rightly rejected” by vice-president M. Venkaiah Naidu. He said the chairman of the Rajya Sabha was the only statutory authority to take the decision on the notice.

Earlier in the day, the vice-president in his order said, “The motion undermines independence of judiciary. The MPs are unsure of their own charges against the CJI. Most of the charges are internal matters to be resolved by the Supreme Court itself. The allegations seriously undermine the independence of the judiciary. None of the five allegations in the notice were tenable or admissible.

Senior advocate Ashok Bhan said the vice-president ought not to have rejected the motion at the initial stage.

“The only thing the V-P can look into at the admission stage is whether those signed are MPs and that there are adequate numbers for the motion and process it. He cannot go into the merits of the allegations as it is not his domain and as it should be established only after a proper enquiry,” he said.

Asked whether the CJI can hear this matter, Mr Bhan said that though the CJI is the “master of roster”, as far as this case is concerned he cannot hear it as the order entirely pertains to his office. The petition has to be heard by other senior judges.

The president of the All-India Bar Association, Adish Aggarwala, said that just like any order passed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or the state Assembly, the vice-president’s order of rejection can be challenged in a court of law. But he welcomed the order saying the vice-president had saved the dignity of the judiciary. Since it is a political motion, the vice-president has rejected it in the larger interests of the country, Mr. Aggarwala added.