SC to hear plea against rejection of CJI Dipak Misra's impeachment notice today

Earlier, two Congress MPs - Pratap Singh Bajwa from Punjab and Amee Harshadray Yajnik from Gujarat filed the petition in the apex court against the rejection of the notice, which was moved by seven opposition parties last month.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra. Photo: PTI (File)

New Delhi: Supreme Court will today hear the petition filed by two Congress MPs challenging the rejection of impeachment notice against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra by Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu. The bench will be headed by Justice A K Sikri, number six in seniority. The other members are Justices S A Bobde, N V Ramana, Arun Mishra and A K Goel, who are next in the sequence of seniority. Earlier, two Congress MPs - Pratap Singh Bajwa from Punjab and Amee Harshadray Yajnik from Gujarat filed the petition in the apex court against the rejection of the notice, which was moved by seven opposition parties last month. On April 20, the opposition parties led by Congress moved the impeachment motion in the Rajya Sabha, seeking the removal of CJI Misra under Article 217 read with article 124 (4) of the Constitution of India. The motion was signed by 64 sitting members of the House. In the impeachment motion, the opposition cited four acts of misbehaviour, including his handling of Prasad Education Trust case. However, Naidu rejected the impeachment motion saying that it lacked substantial facts to hold CJI Misra guilty of misbehaviour. The petition of the two Congress MPs filed through advocate Sunil Fernandes. It alleges that the charges contained in the notice of the motion were extremely serious and called for a full fledged inquiry. It also said the reasons given by Naidu while rejecting the impeachment notice were "not legally tenable" and deserved to be set aside for being "wholly extraneous" and ultra vires the provisions of the Constitution and the Inquiry Act. (with inputs from agencies)