Why Congress and Opp parties want to impeach CJI Misra

In an unprecedented step, Congress and six other opposition parties today moved a notice for the impeachment of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, accusing him of five counts of "misbehaviour" and "misusing" authority.

The opposition parties met Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and handed over a notice for the impeachment of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) with signatures of 64 MPs of the Upper House.

No Chief Justice has ever been impeached in India and any decision on the notice by the Opposition parties against the CJI is likely to be taken by the Vice President following legal consultations.

The impeachment notice comes a day after the Supreme Court rejected a bunch of petitions seeking an independent probe into the death of Judge B H Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case.

Listing five allegations of "misbehaviour" against Misra, Congress leader Kapil Sibal, at a press conference, said the notice for impeachment of the CJI has been moved with a heavy heart.

"As representatives of the people, we are entitled to hold the Chief Justice accountable, just as we are accountable to the people. The majesty of the law is more important than the majesty of any office," he said.

The opposition parties also demanded a probe against the CJI.

"We hope that a thorough enquiry will be held so that truth alone triumphs. Democracy can thrive only when our judiciary stands firm, independent of the executive, and discharges its constitutional functions honestly, fearless, and with an even hand," Sibal said.

He further said, "When SC judges themselves believe", the judiciary's independence is under threat, "alluding to the functioning of the CJI, should we stand still and do nothing".

While the notice for impeachment bears 71 signatures, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said they have requested the chairman to exclude the names of seven of them as they have retired from the Upper House. The minimum requirement to move a notice for impeachment was 50 members in the Rajya Sabha.

"We have moved a motion for removal of Chief Justice of India under five grounds of misbehaviour," he said.

The five charges levelled against the CJI in the notice include "conspiracy to pay illegal gratification" in the Prasad Education Trust case and denial of permission to proceed against a retired high court judge in the same matter.

Another charge listed by the opposition parties pertains to a piece of land which the CJI acquired as an advocate by giving a "false affidavit".

Here are the five reasons given by the Congress:

1. The facts and circumstances relating to the Prasad Educational Trust case show prima facie evidence suggesting that Chief Justice Dipak Misra may have been involved in the conspiracy of paying illegal gratification, which at least warrants a thorough investigation.

2. That Chief Justice Dipak Misra dealt, on the administrative as well as judicial side, with a writ petition which sought investigation into a matter in which he too was likely to fall within the scope of investigation since he had presided over every bench which had dealt with the case and passed orders in the case of Prasad Educational Trust, and thus violated the first principle of the Code of Conduct for judges.

3. That Chief Justice Dipak Misra appears to have antedated an administrative order dated 6 November 2017, which amounts to a serious act of forgery/fabrication.

4. That Chief Justice Dipak Misra acquired land when he was an advocate, by giving an affidavit that was found to be false and, despite the orders of the ADM cancelling the allotment in 1985, surrendered the said land only in 2012 after he was elevated to the Supreme Court.

5. That Chief Justice Dipak Misra has abused his administrative authority as master of roster to arbitrarily assign individual cases of particular advocates in politically sensitive cases to select judges in order to achieve a predetermined outcome.