Ex-judges find merit in VP's decision on impeachment

A former Supreme Court judge and a retired high court judge found merit in Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu's order today rejecting impeachment notice against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra saying the move was politically motivated and charges levelled were not backed by proof.

While Justice P B Sawant, who was a judge in the Supreme Court from 1989-1995, said the decision was "okay" as Naidu must have taken opinion of people concerned, former Delhi High Court judge Justice S N Dhingra termed it "absolutely right", saying there was no proof for charges levelled against the CJI.

"I am sure he (Naidu) must have taken all opinions of various people. It looks like political move to me. Congress is definitely going to go to the Supreme Court if it is a political move. As the head of Rajya Sabha, he must have taken opinion of the people. Presently it seems okay to me," Justice Sawant said.

 

Justice Dhingra, too, supported the vice president's order on impeachment and said, "Rejection was absolutely right, and based on facts no other conclusion could have been reached. There was no proof of charges which were levelled. Prima facie no case was made out."

However, when contacted, former Chief Justice of India T S Thakur refrained from commenting on the issue, saying it was a call of the constitutional authorities and he could not give his view.

"These are decisions of constitutional authorities. I cannot say anything. How good or bad it is politically will be decided by constitutional authorities," Justice Thakur said.

Another retired high court judge Justice R S Sodhi reacted sharply and criticised the move against the CJI, saying the four senior judges who had held the unprecedented January-12 press conference, "should be impeached" instead.

"I think all the four judges should be impeached, they have no business to sit there and deliver verdicts anymore. This trade unionism is wrong. Democracy in danger is not for them to say, we have parliament, courts, police functioning," Justice Sodhi told a news agency.

Naidu today rejected the impeachment notice given by opposition parties led by the Congress against CJI Dipak Misra, saying it lacked substantial merit and that the allegations were neither "tenable nor admissible".

The vice president in his order held the allegations emerging from the present case have a serious tendency of "undermining" the independence of the judiciary.