Opposition motion for removal of CJI: Decision wasn’t hasty, says Venkaiah Naidu

NEW DELHI: A day after he rejected the opposition’s motion for removal of CJI Dipak Misra, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu, refuted the opposition charge that the decision was “hasty”, contending that he had actually applied his mind to the issue for over a month.


Referring to reports in the media for the past few weeks on the possibility of a removal motion against the CJI, Naidu said he had since been working on the provisions, procedures and precedents in the matter, “given the serious nature of the proposal”.

Speaking to a group of lawyers who had called on the

Rajya Sabha

Chairman, Naidu said he had “done his job” and was “satisfied” with it. A source quoted Naidu as saying, “I have done the just thing in the best possible manner expected of me.” Naidu added that his decision was in strict conformity with the provisions of the Constitution and the Judges (Inquiry) Act of 1968.

The source, who was privy to the meeting with the lawyers, said the V-P cited Section 3 of the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, which requires that the RS Chairman should look for prima facie charges in the matter for either admitting the notice or refusing to do so.

“A clear responsibility was cast on the Chairman in this regard and it would not be correct to interpret the role of Chairman as that of mere post office. The Chairman is required to act as a constitutional functionary which is a substantial responsibility,” the source quoted Naidu as saying.

Stating that the

CJI

is the highest judicial functionary of the country and “any issue in public domain concerning him requires to be resolved at the earliest following prescribed procedures so as to prevent the atmosphere from being further vitiated”, Naidu told the lawyers that the issues raised in the notice mostly pertained to the functioning of the Supreme Court and they have to be resolved internally. “Any other means of seeking to address them amounts to interference in the independence of judiciary,” he said.

Naidu had on Monday rejected a notice by seven opposition parties, led by the Congress, to impeach the CJI on five grounds of misbehaviour, saying the allegations were neither tenable nor admissible.

His order, which came within two days of the notice being submitted to him, was slammed as “hasty, illegal and ill-informed” by the Congress.