‘Making details of CJI removal notice public flouts Rajya Sabha rules’

NEW DELHI: Public disclosure of the contents of the notice for the removal of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra by opposition leaders constitutes a violation of Rajya Sabha rules that no advance publicity should be given until a notice is admitted by the chair.
The handbook for Rajya Sabha members states that “a notice for raising a matter in the House should not be given publicity by any member or other persons until it has been admitted by the chairman and circulated to members.” The violation is seen to be significant in the context of the political overtones of the case.
While Congress, CPI and NCP leaders did not share copies of the notice they submitted to Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, they did speak in detail about the grounds on which they sought the CJI’s removal.
“A member should not raise the issue of a notice given by him, pending consideration of the chairman,” the rules say. “As per parliamentary customs and conventions, a notice for raising a matter in the House should not be given publicity,” aparliamentary source said.
The rules of procedure in Lok Sabha also state that no publicity should be given to a notice until the day the question is answered in the House. “This assumed importance in the context of political overtones surrounding the first of its kind move against the CJI and officials have noticed the violation,” the source said.
The motion against the CJI has been submitted by a Congress-led block in Rajya Sabha.
The notice is being examined by Naidu as Congress and BJP trade charges over the politicisation of the issue since the notice was submitted a day after a CJI-led bench dismissed plea for a probe into the death of judge H B Loya.