Prakash Karat not aware of impeachment motion

Hyderabad, April 20 (IANS) CPI-M leader Prakash Karat on Friday said he was not aware of an impeachment motion against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

"There is no impeachment motion moved as far as I am aware of. I don't know. I am sorry. I can't comment. Till yesterday we had not moved any impeachment motion," he told reporters on the sidelines of the ongoing 22nd Party Congress when asked to comment to reports that some opposition parties led by the Congress moved a motion to impeach the CJI on five grounds of "misbehaviour".

A total of 64 members of Rajya Sabha belonging to seven parties, including the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), signed a petition submitted to Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, who is the chairman of Rajya Sabha, on Friday.

To another query, the former CPI-M General Secretary said there was a decision that the MPs will sign that motion, "but I don't know that they have actually moved it or given it in," he said.

Karat said while his party was a party to the motion, it was now a process in parliament. "Once it is submitted by 50 MPs in Rajya Sabha or 100 MPs in Lok Sabha, then there is a process. The Vice Chairman will constitute a committee of retired judges. They will go through it on whether this impeachment motion be taken up. This is something in which we don't have any say," he added.