BJP leaders attack Cong as it withdraws plea challenging rejection of CJI impeachment notice

BJP leaders today attacked the Congress for withdrawing its plea in the Supreme Court challenging the rejection of the impeachment motion notice against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra by the Rajya Sabha chairman, saying the party did so to save itself from "embarrassment" as it had "little confidence" in its case.

While BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi said the Congress knew there was no merit in their case and the apex court would reject their plea so they withdrew it as a "face saving" tactic, senior advocate and BJP spokesperson Aman Sinha said the Congress wanted to "sensationalise" it knowing well there was little merit in their case.

"They (petitioners) knew there would be detailed dismissal order and (they) could not have played any more so they withdrew. Better late than never. From day one, they knew they are losing it but they were using this litigation as a ploy to play the game in media. They knew the court is going to dismiss it so instead of getting strict order against themselves they chose to withdraw," Lekhi said.

Sinha said there was no merit in their case and the Supreme Court "rightly" dismissed the petition as "dismissed as withdrawn".

"The petitioners has little confidence on the merits of their own case and despite the five judges giving them an opportunity of being heard, they virtually ran away knowing that they had little merit in the case," Sinha said.

Lekhi also attacked senior advocate and Congress leader Kapil Sibal for raising objections on the constitution of the five-judge bench and said, this is a pick and choose policy.

"He (Sibal) knew the law and he was trying to use it in an opportunistic manner. Knowing the bench would not agree with him, they chose to withdraw the matter. Dismissed as withdrawn is basically a dismissal. Instead of getting a speaking order, they chose to withdraw it as a 'face saving' device. If the dismissal would have been a speaking order, it would have further embarrassed them, so they withdrew it," Lekhi said.

Hailing Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu's April 23 order rejecting the impeachment motion notice against the CJI, Sinha said it was "well reasoned" and impeachment notice and the charges in the petition were frivolous.

"The Rajya Sabha chairman's order was very well reasoned and dealt with each and every ground raised in the motion and rejected them. The constitution bench of five judges in its wisdom felt that there was no merit in the matter and it was legally unsustainable therefore, it was rightly dismissed as withdrawn," Sinha said.

"This (petition) was bound to be dismissed because of no legally tenable grounds. The apex court has rightly dismissed it as withdrawn for legal and practical purposes. There was no legal merit in their petitions," he said.