Congress leader Kapil Sibal listed five allegations against the Chief Justice at a press conference
A day after some lawmakers made public the contents of their impeachment notice against the Chief Justice of India submitted to the Rajya Sabha chairman, a retired Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha says rules have been violated.
"Advance publicity given to the impeachment notice is in clear violation of the rules. This violation has been brought to the notice of the chairman," the retired Secretary General told NDTV.
The handbook for Rajya Sabha members says "a notice for raising a matter in the house should not be given publicity by any member or other person until it has been admitted by the chairman and circulated to members".
After submitting a notice for impeaching Chief Justice Dipak Misra to M Venkaiah Naidu yesterday, some lawmakers of the Congress and other press conference held a press conference listing out "five grounds of misbehaviour" against the top judge.
Senior Congress leader and former law minister Kapil Sibal had spoken about the
five allegations that were later circulated as part of a press statement.
"Since there is no other way to protect the institution (judiciary) except to move an impeachment motion, we, members of the Rajya Sabha, do so with a heavy heart," the press statement said.
The notice for impeachment has been signed by over 60 lawmakers from seven parties.
According to procedure, after such a notice is given, the chairman forwards it to the Rajya Sabha secretariat to primarily verify two things --- the signatures of the members who have signed the petition and whether the rules and procedures have been followed.
The secretary general of Rajya Sabha sends a report to the chairman who then decides whether to accept the petition or not. The chairman is likely to receive the report by Tuesday.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has called the opposition move a
"revenge petition".
"It is an attempt to intimidate a Judge and send a message to other Judges, that if you don't agree with us, fifty MP's are enough for a revenge action," Mr Jaitley said in a blog.