CJI Dipak Misra impeachment: Congress MPs withdraw petition challenging rejection of motion

Congress MPs Pratap Singh Bajwa and Amee Harshadray Yajnik, who challenged Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu's dismissal of the impeachment motion against CJI Dipak Misra, on Tuesday pulled out their petition.

A five-judge bench headed by Justice AK Sikri declared the petition as dismissed as withdrawn.

While withdrawing their petition, two Congress MPs questioned listing of their plea, challenging rejection of impeachment notice against CJI, before 5-judge Supreme Court bench.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the MPs, asked the apex court that who passed the order for setting up a 5-judge bench to hear the matter.

Sibal said that the matter was listed before 5-judge bench through an administrative order by the Chief Justice. He said that the CJI can't pass such orders as the matter directly involved him.

The Congress leader said that they need to have a copy of the order on setting up of the constitution bench by the CJI as they may consider challenging it.

However, justice Sikri refused to give Sibal the copy of the order, following that the Congress MPs withdrew their petition.

Early on Monday, Bajwa and Yajnik had filed a petition in the apex court challenging Naidu's dismissal of the impeachment motion notice against CJI Misra.

In their petition, the Congress MPs said that the decision by the Rajya Sabha Chairman was "illegal and arbitrary" and taken in a "cavalier, cryptic and abrupt manner".

On Monday, CJI Misra had set up a five-judge constitution bench, comprising Justices AK Sikri, SA Bobde, NV Ramana, Arun Mishra and AK Goel, to hear the petition challenging rejection of his removal.

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.