With one day to go for the commencement of the Parliament’s Monsoon Session, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday said over 100 MPs have already signed a notice to bring a motion in the House for the impeachment of Justice Yashwant Varma, crossing the required number of signatories.
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Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rijiju, who was addressing the media after an all-party meeting, said, “the signature is underway and it has crossed 100 already,” and that the Business Advisory Committee, an all-party group that decides the agenda of the Session, will decide when the motion will be moved.
A motion for the impeachment of a judge has to be signed by at least Lok Sabha 100 MPs and 50 in the Rajya Sabha, as per the Article 124 of the Constitution.
Once an impeachment is adopted by either House, a three-member committee is set up by the Speaker, which will comprise the Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court judge, who will head it, and including a Chief Justice of any High Court, and a person who is a “distinguished jurist”.
The government said it will bring the motion during the Monsoon Session and has received support from different parties, including the opposition, in this move against “corruption in judiciary”.
Rijiju refused to comment on when the matter will be taken up in the parliamentary session until the matter is passed by the BAC with the Chair’s approval.
Formerly serving in the Delhi High Court, Justice Yashwant Varma has been at the centre of controversy since March 14, when fire personnel discovered wads of half-burnt cash at his official residence in the national capital after a fire broke out there.
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Visuals of cash recovery at Delhi HC Judge Yashwant Varma’s house. (Screengrab from video)
The then-CJI Sanjeev Khanna constituted a three-member committee of High Court judges to investigate the matter, and on March 20, the SC Collegium proposed that Justice Varma be transferred to the Allahabad High Court.
Following the submission of the committee’s 64-page report on May 4 — which found credence in the allegation of cash being found at his official residence — CJI Khanna sought Varma’s resignation, which the High Court judge refused.
Himachal Pradesh High Court Justice G S Sandhawalia arrives at the residence of senior Delhi High Court Judge, Justice Yashwant Varma, in New Delhi, Tuesday. (File Photo)
Khanna then forwarded the report, along with Justice Varma’s reply, to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Khanna reportedly recommended to the President to initiate the process to remove Varma.
Varma has been kept off judicial work since his transfer to the Allahabad High Court. Protesting the allegations, he has moved the top court against the committee’s findings, saying that mere recovery of cash does not establish his culpability.
