'Partisan, discriminatory conduct': 193 signed notices to remove CEC Gyanesh Kumar

New Delhi: With the I.N.D.I.A. bloc all set to submit a notice seeking removal of Chief Election Commission Gyanesh Kumar on Friday, at least 193 MPs - 130 of Lok Sabha and 63 of Rajya Sabha - have signed the separate notices charging him on seven points that include "partisan and discriminatory conduct in office".

Sources of Opposition said that the mood of the MPs in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha against the CEC prompted the leadership to collect their signatures and submit the notices citing Article 324(5) in both the Houses of Parliament.

A senior leader said this is the first time that such a notice will be submitted against the CEC. There were attempts in 1991 to submit such a notice against T N Seshan but it did not progress while in 2006, NDA submitted a memorandum against Naveen Chawla.

The notice is learnt to have listed seven charges against Kumar, including "partisan and discriminatory conduct in office", "deliberate obstruction of investigation of electoral fraud" and "mass disenfranchisement through SIR".

While AAP, which is not part of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc anymore, has signed the notice, the Opposition has not reached out to parties like BJD, BRS and YSR Congress.

If the notice is accepted, the Speaker or the Chairman constitute a committee consisting of a Supreme Court judge, a High Court Chief Justice and an eminent jurist is formed to probe the charges against the CEC depending on which House the notice is submitted

In case the notices of motion are submitted on the same day in both the Houses, according to Practice and Procedure of Parliament by M N Kaul and S L Shakdher, the committee will be constituted only if the motion has been admitted in both Houses and thereupon jointly by the Speaker and the Chairman.

If the notices of motion are submitted in both the Houses on different dates, the notice which is given later shall stand rejected.