Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Congress on Saturday took umbrage at the ruling BJP's suggestion that the Opposition-sponsored impeachment notice against Justice Yashwant Varma in Rajya Sabha has not been admitted even as it claimed that the then Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar clearly through his remarks had made the motion a property of the Upper House.
With the government’s unhappiness over the acceptance of the Opposition notice being dubbed as the trigger for Dhankhar's resignation as Vice President, it said his “real mistake” was “showing of some minimal independence, possibly belatedly”. The Modi government is keen that the impeachment motion be driven by the BJP in Lok Sabha.
Addressing a press conference, senior lawyer-MP Abhishek Singhvi said the party is also "very concerned" about the "selective outrage" over Justice Varma and "selective silence" on Justice Shekhar Yadav, against whom the Opposition has submitted a separate impeachment notice for his "communal remarks".
He said the Opposition had submitted the notice on July 21, the same day on which a notice was submitted with Lok Sabha. He referred to Dhankhar talking about the specific notice in Rajya Sabha.
"The Chairman (Dhankhar) spoke for 5-7 minutes. What were his words? He specifically mentioned the motion. He referred to the numerical requirement being satisfactorily met and the provisions in the statute (on the process if an impeachment notice is submitted in both cases. Dhankhar also asked the Law Minister who was present in Rajya Sabha whether any notice was submitted in Lok Sabha and the answer was yes. What else do you need?" he said.
"Were they (MPs) watching a movie, shadow-boxing, or dance drama?...Didn't the Chairman clearly through his words make the motion a property of the House (Rajya Sabha)," he said referring to the government's reluctance to move the motion in Rajya Sabha.
Singhvi claimed that the government was ignoring the "cooperation, collegiality and togetherness" of both the House while indicating "competition" between the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. He alleged the insecurity stemming out of inability to control the narrative has prompted the government to do so.
He also warned that Justice Varma could take advantage of the government's "ego" and mount another legal challenge against the impeachment process.
On the silence on the impeachment notice against Justice Yadav, he said, "this is typical BJP's double standard and yet another example of Modi government's theatre of absurdity. The BJP's game of motions is less about law and more about optics. It is a desperate dance to distract, and dominate. On judicial propriety, on anti-corruption movement and on judicial accountability, the BJP's mantra is "talk the talk, never walk the talk," he said.
"In this climate of selective outrage and politicised morality, we must also ask the question from both Dhankhar and the Government as to the continuing eloquent silence on Justice Yadav. You are so particular about Lok Sabha versus Rajya Sabha, but you maintain this remarkably eloquent silence on Justice Yadav, a person whose comments as a sitting judge read more like manifestos of a political party than any legal reasoning," he said.