Hectic parleys are on among the Opposition parties on the form of the proposed impeachment motion to be moved against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.
sA senior leader in the Opposition said intense discussions were held within the parties also as a move to impeach the Chief Justice is historic and unprecedented.
When asked if the focus of the motion would be the administrative issues — as four senior-most judges of the court had pointed out at a January 12 news conference — the leader said “corruption” was the main issue. Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan had recently approached the apex court demanding an in-house probe against the Chief Justice.
Bhushan, who is also the convenor of the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms, has alleged that the CJI has apparently committed several acts of serious misconduct that should be inquired into by a committee of three or five judges of the apex court.
“The facts and circumstances relating to the Prasad Education Trust case show prima facie evidence suggesting that CJI Misra may have been involved in the conspiracy of paying illegal gratification in the case, which at least warrants a thorough investigation,” Bhushan had alleged.
The senior leader said an impeachment motion should carry all the evidences against the accused judge. “In this case, it is none other than the Chief Justice of the country. We know the seriousness of the situation. The motion should have all the evidences,” he added.
The motion of the motion
According to law, the motion should have the signatures of at least 50 MPs of the Rajya Sabha, or 100 MPs of the Lok Sabha. Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu or Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan can either accept or reject the motion. If accepted, the Chair authorises a panel to hold investigations into the matter, and the report of the panel is discussed in the House. To pass, the motion needs the support of two-third members of the House.