The rejection of the notice for impeachment of Chief Justice Dipak Misra by Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu today not only brought relief to the CJI but also halted a rigorous process for removal of judges that had to be followed on its admission.
If the Vice President had admitted the notice of impeachment moved by Congress-led opposition, the procedure prescribed under Article 124 (4) of the Constitution and the provisions of the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 and the corresponding rules, which deal exhaustively with the entire procedure, would have to be followed.
The long-drawn process for the removal of a Supreme Court judge is mentioned in Article 124(4) of the Constitution, which is termed as impeachment.
Article 124(4) says, "A Judge of the Supreme Court shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the President passed after an address by each House of Parliament supported by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting has been presented to the President in the same session for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour incapacity."
For initiating the impeachment process, a motion has to be moved by either 100 Lok Sabha members or 50 Rajya Sabha MPs. If the motion is admitted, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or Chairman of the Rajya Sabha will constitute an inquiry committee.
This inquiry committee will comprise three members -- a Supreme Court judge, a high court chief justice and an eminent jurist. The committee will frame charges and ask the judge to give a written response.
The judge also has the right to examine witnesses. After the inquiry, the committee will determine whether the charges are valid or not and then submit its report.
If the inquiry committee finds that the judge is not guilty, then there is no further action. If it finds him or her guilty, then the House of Parliament which had initiated the motion (in this case Rakya Sabha), may consider continuing with the motion.
The motion will then be debated and the judge (or his representative) will have the right to represent his case. After this, the motion will be voted upon. If there is two-third support of those voting, and majority support of the total strength of the House, it will be considered to have been passed. The process will then be repeated in the other House.
After this, both the Houses will send an address to the President asking that the judge be removed from office.
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