New Delhi, April 7 -- Rajya Sabha chairman CP Radhakrishnan and Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla rejected on Monday notices by opposition parties seeking the removal of chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar in both Houses, bringing to an end the first-ever attempt in Parliament to remove the CEC. In a communique issued on Monday, the Rajya Sabha secretariat said after "careful and objective assessment of all relevant aspects and issues involved, the Hon'ble Chairman, Rajya Sabha, in exercise of the powers vested to him under section 3 of the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, has refused to admit the said notice of motion." A Lok Sabha bulletin issued on Monday evening said, "Members are informed that a notice of Motion dated the 12th March, 2026 signed by 130 Members of Lok Sabha under Article 324(5) of the Constitution of India, read with Article 124(4) thereof, Section 11(2) of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 and the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, seeking the removal of Shri Gyanesh Kumar, Chief Election Commissioner, was submitted to Hon'ble Speaker, Lok Sabha." "After due consideration of the notice of Motion and a careful and objective assessment of all relevant aspects and issues involved therein, the Hon'ble Speaker, Lok Sabha, in exercise of the powers vested to him under section 3 of the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, has refused to admit the said notice of Motion," it added. According to a 2023 law on the appointment and functions of CEC and ECs, "the Chief Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his office except in like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court." In other words, this means that a CEC can be removed only through impeachment in both Houses of Parliament. The section 3 of the Judges (Inquiry) Act says, "The Speaker or, as the case may be, the Chairman may, after consulting such persons, if any, as he thinks fit and after considering such materials, if any, as may be available to him, either admit the motion or refuse to admit the same."...