RS deputy chairman Harivansh dismisses opposition notice seeking removal of VP Dhankhar

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh has dismissed the impeachment notice submitted by the opposition seeking the removal of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday. He ruled that it was an attempt of the opposition of impropriety, being severely flawed and drawn in haste to damage the reputation of Dhankhar.

The ruling given by the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha today on the motion of no confidence in the Chairman submitted by INDIA parties contains a reference to some remarks made by me in a press conference held on Dec 12, 2024. This reference takes liberties with facts - to put it mildly.

The ruling, presented to the House by Secretary General P C Mody, said that the notice was designed to undermine constitutional institutions and malign the incumbent the Vice President.

The impeachment notice was signed by 60 opposition members seeking the removal of Dhankhar from his post on December 10. They alleged him of being "biased."

The deputy chairman further said that the "personally targeted" notice lacked a factual basis and appeared to be aimed at securing publicity.

He ruled that the notice was a "misadventure" in "deliberate trivialising and demeaning" of the high constitutional office of the Vice President of the largest democracy.

According to sources, the deputy chairman's ruling emphasised that the notice contained unfounded claims intended to defame the incumbent Vice President, compromising Parliament's dignity.

The responsibility of addressing this notice fell to the deputy chairman after Chairman Dhankhar stepped aside from the matter.

Reacting to it, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said, "The ruling given by the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha today on the motion of no confidence in the Chairman submitted by INDIA parties contains a reference to some remarks made by me in a press conference held on Dec 12, 2024. This reference takes liberties with facts - to put it mildly."

"In this connection, I had written to the Chairman on Dec 14th. The Chairman told me categorically twice - on Dec 17th and 18th - that he agrees with what I had said in the letter. He asked me to forget what he had said and bury my letter, which will find place only in his memoirs. He, in fact, apologised to me," he said in a post on X.


"I had decided to let the matter rest. But now I find the same misrepresentation in the Deputy Chairman's ruling for which there can be only one source," his post added.

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