Lok Sabha forms 3-member panel to examine proposal to impeach Justice Varma

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla accepted a motion by 146 MPs seeking Justice Yashwant Varma's impeachment, days after the Supreme Court upheld an inquiry panel's recommendation for his removal

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday said that a three-member committee has been set up to look into allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma. 

The committee includes Justice Amit Kumar, Justice Maninder Mohan Srivastava, and BB Acharya. Birla also said he had accepted the motion signed by 146 Members of Parliament seeking the impeachment of Justice Varma. 

“The committee will submit its report as early as possible. The proposal (for removal of Justice Varma) will remain pending till the receipt of the report of the inquiry committee,” Birla said. 

Last week, the Supreme Court upheld the in-house inquiry process that recommended Justice Varma’s removal. 

 

The top court dismissed Justice Varma’s plea challenging the report of the in-house panel and the recommendation by former Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna to start impeachment proceedings. 

A Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih rejected Justice Varma’s claim that he was not given a fair chance to present his defence before the inquiry committee. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal represented him in court. 

 

Fire incident and cash recovery

The controversy surrounding Justice Yashwant Varma began on March 14, when a fire broke out at his official residence. During firefighting operations, officials found large sums of cash. A video showing bundles of currency notes burning in the blaze was widely circulated. 

Justice Varma rejected the corruption allegations, claiming that he was being falsely implicated. On March 22, then Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud appointed a three-member in-house committee to look into the matter. 

Soon after, Justice Varma was transferred back to the Allahabad High Court and took oath again. However, the CJI withdrew all judicial assignments from him.   

  

Justice Varma contests over unfair inquiry

The panel began its inquiry on March 25 and submitted its report on May 3. Relying on the findings, the CJI recommended to the President of India that Justice Varma be removed from office. Challenging this, Justice Varma approached the Supreme Court, arguing that the inquiry process was unfair. He said he was neither informed of the procedure to be followed nor given a chance to respond to the evidence. 

He also pointed out that the report did not specify the exact amount of cash recovered or identify its owner. Additionally, he alleged that the CJI had pressured him to resign or opt for voluntary retirement within a short period.

 

[With agency inputs]