Cash discovery row: Govt wants to control judges' appointments, says Sibal

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Tuesday alleged that the real motive of the government in moving towards bringing an impeachment motion against Justice Yashwant Varma for alleged corruption is to take control of appointment of judges by doing away with the Collegium system and bringing in the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).

Sibal, who is also a senior advocate, also accused the government of having a selective approach in handling the cases of Justice Varma and Justice Shekhar Yadav, against whom Opposition MPs have submitted a notice in the Rajya Sabha for moving an impeachment motion for making allegedly "communal" remarks last year.

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has underlined the government's resolve to take all political parties on board in moving the impeachment motion against Justice Varma. A fire incident at Varma's residence in the national capital in March, when he was a judge at the Delhi High Court, had led to the discovery of several burnt sacks of cash at the outhouse.

Addressing a press conference, Sibal said the intention of the government is to finish the Collegium system and to take control of the appointment of judges.

Talking about Justice Varma, Sibal said, "I can say with utmost responsibility that he is one of the finest judges that I have argued before. You ask any lawyer in the High Court or Supreme Court, there is not a whiff of any wrongdoing by this judge. You ask any lawyer in Allahabad."  "It is shocking that you (the government) are targeting a judge against whom there is no evidence and you are protecting a judge against whom there is no evidence required because his statement is in the public domain and there is an impeachment motion pending before the Chairman and he has been sitting on it for verification of signatures," Sibal said.

Rijiju wants to bring a motion on the first day of Parliament's Monsoon session to put the Supreme Court's in-house inquiry report in Justice Varma's case in the public domain, he said.

"For what? Why are you protecting Shekhar Yadav?" Sibal added.

Why isn't the opposition not realising that the game plan is to take away the power to appoint judges from the Collegium and give it to the NJAC, Sibal alleged, adding "That is the whole purpose of this exercise".

Slamming the government, he said it took a decision against a high court judge without any inquiry and procedure.

"The judge was not even heard. This is absolutely shocking...Unfortunately, the political class is brought into the act," he said.

Sibal last week had questioned why Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar has not taken any action on the notice for moving an impeachment motion against Justice Yadav of the Allahabad High Court and alleged the government was trying to save the judge who made "totally communal" remarks last year.

The Rajya Sabha MP had also said the whole incident smacks of "discrimination" as on one hand, the Rajya Sabha secretariat wrote to the Chief Justice of India not to go ahead with an in-house inquiry against Yadav as a petition was pending against him before the Upper House, while did not do so in the case of Justice Varma.

Sibal has said if the government tries to remove Varma citing the in-house Supreme Court inquiry against him without the impeachment procedure as claimed by some reports, it would be unconstitutional and would be met with strong opposition for endangering judicial independence.