Impeachment row: Highlights of hearing in Supreme Court

SC says it is a piquant and unprecedented situation where CJI is a party and other four judges may also have some role.

For representational purposes (File | PTI)

NEW DELHI: Following are the highlights of the hearing in the SC where two Congress MPs withdrew their petition challenging the rejection of the impeachment notice against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra by Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu:

SC declares the petition as dismissed as withdrawn.
SC says it is a piquant and unprecedented situation where CJI is a party and other four judges may also have some role.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal representing the two MPs questions the setting of the Constitution bench overnight and demands a copy of the administrative order.
SC expresses reluctance to accept the demand saying it would not lead to anywhere.
SC tells Sibal that he started by saying there is no personal agenda, no malice and malafide against anyone but it appears that there is something else.
Sibal said he stands by his statement that there was no agenda against anyone and he was here in the SC to uphold the dignity of the institution.
Attorney General K K Venugopal sought dismissal of the Congress MPs plea saying they did not have the support of other Rajya Sabha MPs who were signatories to the impeachment notice.
AG said only two MPs from the Congress party have moved the SC, whereas there were MPs from six other opposition parties, who had moved the impeachment notice in the Rajya Sabha.
Judges in the Constitution bench say there is no bar that a five-judge bench cannot hear a fresh petition.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan files RTI in the SC seeking copy of the administrative order by which the Constitution bench was set up to hear the impeachment case.