New Delhi: A sharp political confrontation erupted at the Constitution Club on Wednesday as Opposition parties hit back after the Rajya Sabha Chairman rejected the impeachment notice against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi led the charge, accusing the ruling dispensation of throttling democratic processes.
The Rajya Sabha Chairman rejected the impeachment motion against CEC Gyanesh Kumar on April 6, invoking powers under Section 3 of the Judges Inquiry Act, 1968.
The notice, led by the Trinamool Congress and backed by several Opposition parties, was moved in the Rajya Sabha on March 12. It gathered signatures from 63 Rajya Sabha MPs and 130 Lok Sabha MPs, well above the minimum threshold of 50 Rajya Sabha or 100 Lok Sabha members required to initiate removal proceedings against a Chief Election Commissioner.
Addressing the media, Singhvi sharply questioned the government’s intent. “Why is the ruling side so rattled by the Election Commission? Why does it try to deny everything?” he asked. He argued that dismissing the impeachment motion at the first stage goes against the foundational spirit of the Constitution.
Singhvi cited the Supreme Court’s framework in the Yashwant Varma case, which outlined a six-stage process for such proceedings. He said rejecting the CEC’s impeachment motion at stage one was constitutionally indefensible. He warned that if such motions could be dismissed this early, constitutional functionaries would become unaccountable. He also raised pointed questions about the CEC’s conduct, noting that two issues from the Special Investigation Report proceedings had cast a shadow over the CEC’s image.
“The ruling side is strangling democracy,” Singhvi charged, adding that the government’s anxiety over the impeachment move itself raises serious questions.