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”….reports Asian Lite news
Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh on Thursday dismissed the impeachment notice given by the opposition seeking the removal of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar while ruling it as an act of impropriety, being severely flawed and drawn in haste to mar his reputation, sources said.
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 a design to denigrate the nation’s constitutional institutions and malign the incumbent Vice President, the sources said.
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 deputy chairman ruled that the gravity of this “personally targeted” notice which is bereft of facts and 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.
Worrisomely for the prestige of Parliament and its members, the notice is replete with assertions only to malign the incumbent Vice President, the deputy chairman ruled, the sources added. The deputy chairman was entrusted to deal with the notice after Chairman Dhankhar recused himself from it.
The notice, he remarked, appeared “casual and cavalier, wanting on every conceivable aspect,” casting doubts on its bona fides. “Worrisomely for the prestige of Parliament and its members, the notice is replete with assertions only to malign the incumbent Vice President asserting events from the time he assumed office in August 2022.”
Harivansh added that “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.” He cited a similar removal notice in September 2020 which was rejected by then-Chairman Venkaiah Naidu for procedural lapses under a provision similar to Article 67(b).
The ruling pointed to “orchestration of a coordinated media campaign” by the Congress and highlighted press conferences and social media posts by opposition leaders, including the Leader of Opposition (LoP), which Harivansh described as attempts to create a misleading narrative. “The gravity of this personally targeted notice bereft of facts and aimed at securing publicity makes its expose expedient, being misadventure in deliberate trivialising and demeaning of the high constitutional office of Vice President of the largest democracy,” it added.
