Giving a point-by-point reply to charges levelled by the Opposition members in their notice, the Chairman said that the first charge against CEC Kumar was that his appointment was “compromised”. (File Photo)Rejecting the notice for motion to impeach Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Vice-Preisdent and Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan has said that the allegations levelled by the Opposition members “lack proofs necessary to constitute misbehaviour which establishes a prima facie case for removal of Chief Election Commissioner”.The Chairman also said that “admitting removal motions based on administrative disagreements or political perceptions would jeopardize its very independence the Constitution aims to safeguard”.Radhakrishnan said that “some charges involve matters already decided or currently under judicial review”. “While these allegations are relevant for political debate, they do not prima facie meet the high constitutional bar for removal proceedings. In view thereof, the notice does not demonstrate ‘misbehaviour’ as envisaged by Articles 324(5) and 124(4) of the Constitution. Therefore, the prima-facie requirements for admitting this notice of Motion under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, have not been met,” he said in a 17-page order on Monday.“Against this backdrop, having considered the notice of Motion and the existing constitutional and statutory provisions, I am of the firm opinion that the notice of Motion does not deserve to be admitted,” Radhakrishnan said.The Rajya Sabha Chairman and Lok Sabha Speaker had on Monday rejected the notice for impeachment motions submitted in both Houses by the Opposition over three weeks ago to remove Kumar from office.In an effort led by the TMC, the Opposition had submitted the impeachment motions against Kumar in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on March 12, with 130 MPs signing the former and 63 the latter. To be admitted, an impeachment motion needs to be signed by at least 100 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 50 in the Rajya Sabha.Giving a point-by-point reply to charges levelled by the Opposition members in their notice, the Chairman said that the first charge against Kumar was that his appointment was “compromised” and “tainted” as the constitutional validity of the selection process for his appointment is under challenge before the Supreme Court.Story continues below this ad“These allegations, even if presumed to be factually correct, do not amount to any act of misbehavior attributable to the Chief Election Commissioner,” he said.On the allegation that the CEC “applied different yardsticks to members of two different political formulations”, the V-P ruled that the allegation does not appear to be falling within the meaning of “misbehaviour”.On the charge that the ECI refused to share machine-readable voters list, he said “disclosure of electoral data in machine-readable format was considered by the Supreme Court, and the Election Commission had acted in due compliance with the directions issued therein”.On the charge related “to nationwide expansion of SIR and purported political consequences of such action”, the Chairman reiterated that the Election Commission is “mandated under the Constitution and various statutory provisions to undertake revision of electoral rolls and ensure its correctness”.Story continues below this adOn the charge regarding “failure on the part of the Election Commission of India to maintain independence and constitutional fidelity following the appointment of Gyanesh Kumar as Chief Election Commissioner”, the Chairman said that this “on the face of it, appears to be couched in broad, generalized, and inferential terms, lacking any specificity and resting largely on the perception of a particular political formation”.After the notices for impeachment of Kumar were rejected by Parliament on Monday evening, Opposition parties had criticised the move, with TMC MP Derek O’Brien alleging a “mockery of our great Parliament”.Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More © The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:New Delhi