New Delhi:
Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Monday set up a five-judge constitution bench to hear Congress' plea against dismissal of his impeachment motion.
Recently, Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu had rejected a notice of impeachment motion against CJI Misra moved by Opposition parties led by the Congress.
Earlier in the day, the Congress challenged Naidu's dismissal of the impeachment notice in the Supreme Court. The party said that Naidu's decision was "illegal and arbitrary" and taken in a "cavalier, cryptic and abrupt manner".
Senior Congress leader and lawyer Kapil Sibal, who settled the petition, asked senior apex court judge Justice Chelameshwar to set up a panel to hear the plea. Sibal argued that since the case involved CJI Misra, he can't set up the panel or hear the plea.
However, Justice Chelameshwar said it had already been cleared that Chief Justice was the master of the roster and only he will allocate the cases and set up the benches.
The judges who will hear the Congress's plea are Justices AK Sikri, SA Bobde, NV Ramana, Arun Mishra and AK Goel.
The bench didn't include any of the four senior most Supreme Court judges who revolted against CJI Misra by holding an unprecedented press conference and raised questions about the apex court's functioning.
