Venkaiah Naidu rejects CJI’s impeachment notice: Here is who said what

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu today rejected the notice given by opposition parties led by the Congress for impeachment of CJI Dipak Misra citing lack of substantial merit in it.

Naidu held extensive consultations with top legal and constitutional experts, including former chief justices and judges, before taking the decision, sources said.

Here is how leaders across the party have reacted

Surjewala calls it fight between 'Rejecting Democracy and Rescuing Democracy'

Congress spokesman RS Surjewala said the Rajya Sabha chairman cannot adjudicate on the notice.

"Constitutional process of impeachment is set in motion with 50 MP's giving the motion. RS chairman can't adjudicate the motion, for he has no mandate to decide the merits of the motion. This is truly a fight between forces 'Rejecting Democracy' & voices 'Rescuing Democracy'," tweeted Surjewala.

Meenakshi Lekhi welcomes decision

Welcoming the decision, BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said the vice president, who is also the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha, applied his mind and gave a detailed order.

"I must express my gratefulness to the vice president who has applied his mind and gave a detailed order. The second aspect is regarding the complaint itself. It is a major wrong. The language itself in which it has been drafted says it appears, prima facie it appears, it looks."

"Plus, there is a division on this within the Congress party only goes to show that some vested interests are propagating these kinds of harm to the institution in political interest because they seem to be out of power," Lekhi said.

Naidu acted in a hurried manner, says Somnath Chatterjee

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said on Monday Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu acted in a "hurried manner" while rejecting the impeachment notice against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

"This instance has set a bad precedence, which is not good for democracy," he told PTI here, adding that Mr. Naidu should have followed proper procedures before rejecting the notice.

"There are procedures in the Constitution and the chairman of Rajya Sabha should have followed it instead of acting in a hurried manner," Chatterjee said.

Sena leader wondered why Naidu acted so quickly

"Both the parties are playing dirty politics and the way the impeachment notice was rejected is also political. He could have waited, such hurry in rejection was not needed," said Arvind Sawant of the Sena to ANI.

OneIndia News