Decision to reject CJI ouster plea not hasty: M Venkaiah Naidu

The decision to reject an impeachment bid against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra was not taken in a hurry, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said on Tuesday. Backing his decision, he said it was taken after a month of due diligence.

"I have done my job and am satisfied with it... It (decision) was timely and not a hasty one, Naidu told the group of 10 Supreme Court lawyers who met him to compliment him over the decision.

Naidu, however, told the lawyers that his decision did not warrant any compliment as he only did what was expected of him and in the manner the Chairman of Rajya Sabha was expected to conduct in such matters.

The notice by seven opposition parties, led by the Congress, to impeach the Chief Justice of India on five grounds of "misbehaviour" was rejected on ground that saying the allegations are neither "tenable nor admissible".

The Congress had called his decision "hasty, illegal and illinformed."

Speaking to the lawyers, Naidu is believed to have said that he has been working on "provisions, procedures and precedents in the matter" for over a month following media reports about a possible impeachment bid.

"Some members of the House had a point of view and the right to express it while I had a responsibility cast on me. I have done my job and am satisfied with it," Naidu said.

He further said the Section 3 of the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 requires that the Rajya Sabha Chairman should look for prima facie charges in the matter for either admitting the notice or refusing to do so.