Supreme Court judges, including Chief Justice Dipak Misra, today initiated court proceedings at 10.45 am instead of the scheduled 10.30 am amid speculation that they held a brief meeting on the issue of the impeachment notice against the CJI.

CJI Misra, who usually holds his court at 10.30 am, entered the courtroom almost 15 minutes late and started hearing lawyers who wanted their petitions to be listed for urgent mentioning. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy was among the first few litigants to mention his petition for urgent hearing.

The CJI’s courtroom was packed with lawyers including those who had no matters to argue for. Besides the CJI, all other courts sat late at 10.45 am to undertake today’s court proceedings. Speculation was rife among lawyers that judges held a brief, informal meeting before they started today’s business.

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu today rejected the notice given by Opposition parties led by the Congress for impeachment of the CJI, 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. The rejection of the notice comes a day after he held the consultations to determine the maintainability of the motion.

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