The Congress party’s attempt to impeach the Chief Justice of India fell flat today after the party MPs who had moved Supreme Court to challenge the rejection of the motion, decided to withdraw their pleas following heated arguments.
The petition, which had been filed by Congress Rajya Sabha MPs Pratap Singh Bajwa of Punjab and Amee Yajnik of Gujarat, was withdrawn by party leader and senior advocate Kapil Sibal after the court refused to entertain a portion of his plea seeking access to an order that had led to the establishment of a Constitution bench yesterday.
Sibal had sought a copy of an administrative order under which the five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice AK Sikri had been constituted. He argued during today’s proceeding that his clients will decide on the future course of action only after they peruse this order.
Attorney General KK Venugopal responded to Sibal’s contention by arguing that the Chief Justice of India has administrative and judicial powers to establish a bench with judges of his choice, and that is why the establishment of this particular bench was not illegal. He cited a Supreme Court judgment in this regard to support his argument.
The bench found merit in Venugopal’s plea and decided to side with him, to which Sibal and the two Congress MPs eventually responded by withdrawing the petition. The court then passed an order stating the same.
Congress’ attempt to challenge Vice President Venkaiah Naidu’s rejection of the impeachment motion and today’s proceedings in court prompted a strong response from leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also stepped in and accused Congress of “taking a fringe position” and indulging in “bench fixing” before the apex court.