Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh in his ruling said the impeachment notice is part of an effort to disrespect the country's constitutional institutions and harm the reputation of the current Vice President.
Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh on Thursday dismissed the notice signed by Opposition members seeking the removal of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar as Rajya Sabha Chairman and Harivansh reportedly called it 'severely flawed' and accused them of drawing it in haste to 'mar' his reputation, while he ruled it as an act of impropriety.
In his ruling, which was tabled in the House by Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody, the deputy chairman said the impeachment notice is part of an effort to disrespect the country's constitutional institutions and harm the reputation of the current Vice President.
The deputy chairman ruled that the gravity of this "personally targeted" notice doesn't contain enough facts and is aimed at securing publicity.
He also held that the notice was a "misadventure" in "deliberate trivialising and demeaning" of the high constitutional office of the Vice President of the largest democracy.
The deputy chairman ruled that the impeachment notice was mainly meant to damage the reputation of the current Vice President, which is harmful to Parliament and its members.
He explained that the notice referred to Article 67(b), which requires a minimum of 14 days' notice before any resolution to remove the Vice President can be introduced. This meant the resolution could not be considered until after December 24, 2024. He also pointed out that the current session of the Council of States, which began on November 25 and is set to end on December 20, 2024, was already known to all signatories of the notice.
The deputy chairman stated that those behind the notice were aware it could not be acted upon during this session. He said the notice was aimed at creating a negative narrative against the Vice President and the second-highest constitutional office.
Harivansh also said the notice's "lack of bona fides", and subsequent events unfolding revealed "it being a calculated unwholesome attempt to garnish publicity; run down the constitutional institution; insinuate the the personal image of the incumbent Vice President- notably, the first from the agricultural community to hold this office in the history of independent India".
The deputy chairman also noted that the notice seemed part of a coordinated media campaign, including a press conference organized by the Leader of Opposition and Chief Whip of the Indian National Congress on December 12, 2024.
He added that the impeachment notice was "an attempt to set afloat a narrative as if the authority was sitting over the notice of intention and thereby not discharging expectedly".
The deputy chairman ruled that constitutionally after the intention of the notice to bring a resolution seeking removal of Vice President has been initiated, those taking such step had to move the resolution after 14 days, with no step called for from any quarter.
Reportedly, Harvivansh also ruled that this coupled with the Leader of Opposition's subsequent 10-point social media input on December 12, 2024, apart from being distanced from institutional decorum, "forces a conclusion to be part of a design to denigrate nation's constitutional institutions and malign the incumbent Vice President".
He also cited past precedent when on September 21, 2020, then then-Chairman Venkaiah Naidu rejected a similar removal notice against the Deputy Chairman, citing procedural impropriety under a provision pari materia to Article 67(b).
Deputy chairman Harivansh was entrusted to deal with the notice after Chairman Dhankhar recused himself from it.
At least 60 opposition members had signed the notice for removal of Dhankhar from his post on December 10, alleging that they did not have trust in him and that he was "biased".
The notice was moved by the opposition members under Article 67(b) of the Constitution as intention of a no-confidence motion against the Vice President of India.
If the motion was moved, these parties would need a simple majority to get it passed, but they do not have the requisite numbers in the 243-member House.
Opposition members had insisted that it was a "strong message to fight for parliamentary democracy".
On behalf of the opposition, Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Naseer Hussain submitted the notice signed by 60 opposition MPs including from the Congress, RJD, TMC, CPI, CPI-M, JMM, AAP, DMK, Samajwadi Party to Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody.
This was the first time that a notice for bringing a motion to remove the Vice President has been moved in the Rajya Sabha. A 14-day notice has to be given and it should be approved by the Deputy Chairman before the motion is taken up, but in this case, the notice got rejected.
(With PTI inputs)