NEW DELHI: The Congress is undecided whether or not to support the CPI(M)’s move to bring an impeachment motion against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.
The Left is planning to censure the CJI after four Supreme Court judges questioned the functioning of the apex court and claimed that the democracy was in danger.
Though Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had publicly supported the issues raised by the four judges, the party had stayed away from demanding the CJI removal.
As the issue heats up with the Budget session of parliament starting January 29, the Congress has deflected the idea saying it needs wider consultation with other Opposition parties.
“There are very important issues that have been raised by the Communist Party. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and party leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge would talk to everybody and make their positions clear,” said Congress spokesperson RPN Singh.
The Congress leader further said that his party continued to believe that the judiciary should not be politicised.
“We continue again to say that we will never politicise the judiciary of this country. They are a very important pillar of democracy and we have not politicised it nor raised any issue,” said Singh.
Congress sources said the idea behind the party backing the demand of the judges was to ensure that correctives were introduced by the judiciary itself, rather than political parties joining the issue.
They said if the Congress went overboard, the institution of the apex court would be damaged.
Party insiders said they were miffed that the CJI had earlier given Judge Loya case to a junior bypassing the established procedures in allocation of cases. The fact that the CJI has now decided to hear the sensitive case, showed that the Congress position was realistic, they said.