It was a victory for Chavez opponents, who now have more than enough signatures to force a vote unless citizens deny they signed.
But disagreements over the legality of the Supreme Court ruling threaten to derail efforts to bring Venezuela's political crisis to a peaceful resolution.
The South American country, which sits on the largest oil reserves in the Western Hemisphere, is fiercely torn between those who accuse Chavez of trampling over democratic institutions and those who say he speaks for the impoverished majority.
Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said yesterday the government would not abide by what it considered an invalid ruling. The ruling came from the Supreme Court's three-member electoral chamber, and Rangel argued only the constitutional chamber had the authority to decide on matters concerning the recall.
The Supreme Court, with 20 magistrates, is divided into several chambers that rule on different areas of law.
Chavez's Fifth Republic Movement party has appealed the ruling to the constitutional chamber, whose magistrates are considered mostly government sympathizers.
A decision by all 20 magistrates would have to resolve contradictory rulings from two chambers.
When acting together, the attorney general, the public defender, and the controller general form the "Moral Council," one of Venezuela's five branches of government.
The Moral Council opened its investigation on a petition from the Chavez-dominated National Assembly.
If the Moral Council finds wrongdoing, it would present its allegations to the National Assembly, which would then vote on whether to remove the magistrates.
But the effort is unlikely to prevail because the Fifth Republic Movement lacks the two-thirds majority needed to oust the magistrates.
Chavez allies hold just over half of the 165 seats in the unicameral National Assembly.
The attorney general's statement did not say when the investigation would conclude.
Chavez opponents turned in more than 3 million signatures Dec. 19.
The elections council tossed out more than 400,000 outright and asked more than 1 million citizens to confirm they signed.
