The impeachment motion against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, a notice for which was presented by the opposition parties to Rajya Sabha chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu on Friday, has set off intense speculations on how the move, seeking removal of the CJI, will unfold.
This is the first time ever that an impeachment motion has been initiated against the Chief Justice of India. So far, no judge has been impeached despite Parliament moving to impeach judges on a few occasions.
The Constitution does not contain the word 'impeachment', which is used in popular parlance to refer to removal of a judge. In the Constitution, the proceedings under Article 124 deal with removal of a Supreme Court judge.
As per the Constitution, a judge can be removed only by an order of the President, based on a motion passed by both houses of Parliament. The procedure for removal of a judge is laid down in the Judges Inquiry Act, 1968. The law states that an impeachment motion can be initiated in either house of Parliament. For a motion to be taken up in the Lok Sabha, at least 100 MPs of the house should sign on it, and if it is to be initiated in the Rajya Sabha, 50 members should be its signatories for it be to be taken up by the presiding officer.
The motion presented to Naidu contains 64 signatures of Rajya Sabha MPs, and seeks Misra's impeachment on grounds of misbehaviour that relates to alleged abuse of power.
Naidu has to now decide on the admissibility of the motion. The presiding officer can reject the motion if he is convinced that prima facie, the charges do not constitute the grounds on which impeachment can be sought. However, a rejection of the motion by Naidu is not likely to be the end of the story for the opposition move. A judicial review of Naidu's decision can be sought if he rejects the motion. And in the scenario of parties moving Supreme Court over rejection of the motion, the CJI—since he will be in a conflict of interest position—will have to refer the matter to the next senior-most judge in the apex court, who till June 22, is Justice J Chelameswar, and after that, Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
If Naidu admits the motion, he will constitute a three-member committee to inquire into the charges made in the impeachment motion. This committee has to comprise a Supreme Court judge, Chief Justice of a high court and an eminent jurist. The committee will submit its report on the charges to the Rajya Sabha chairman. If the report confirms the grounds on which impeachment has been sought, the motion for removal will be taken up in the upper house and debated. The motion for removal of a judge is required to be adopted by each house of Parliament, by a majority of the members present and voting.
Also, if it is felt that the presiding officer has taken more time than what can be termed a 'reasonable timeframe' to decide on the notice for impeachment motion, that can also be challenged on the judicial side.
Meanwhile, it is also being discussed whether Misra, in the wake of the impeachment motion, should recuse himself from his judicial responsibilities. Opposition leaders said there is a tradition of judges staying away from judicial work after they were sought to be impeached. “Justice Dipak Misra should refrain from discharging official duties pending the impeachment motion,” said senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal.