Lok Sabha Moves to Impeach Justice Yashwant Varma Amid Controversy

Impeachment Motion in Lok Sabha

On Friday, Kiren Rijiju, the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, announced that the Lok Sabha will address a bipartisan motion aimed at the removal of Justice Yashwant Varma, as reported by a news source.

Rijiju stated that the decision to pursue impeachment was reached unanimously, with 152 Members of Parliament from both the ruling coalition and opposition signing the motion.

He emphasized that there is a shared understanding that Varma's removal should be a collective effort, noting that the Lok Sabha will initiate proceedings before forwarding the matter to the Rajya Sabha, in accordance with the Judges Inquiry Act.

This announcement coincided with an opposition-sponsored motion being introduced in the Rajya Sabha on July 21, marking the commencement of the Monsoon Session of Parliament. The Lok Sabha had initiated the process on the same day, according to the news report.

Officials indicated that the notice in the Rajya Sabha has yet to be accepted.

To impeach a judge, a motion must be endorsed by either 100 Lok Sabha MPs or 50 Rajya Sabha MPs. If the motion is accepted, a three-member judicial committee will investigate the allegations. Should the committee find evidence of misconduct, Parliament will vote on the impeachment, requiring a two-thirds majority for the president to be advised to remove the judge.

It is anticipated that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will establish a panel to examine the allegations against Varma.

Reports indicate that unaccounted cash was allegedly found at Varma's official residence in Delhi during a response to a fire on March 14. At that time, he was serving as a judge at the Delhi High Court. Varma claimed he was in Bhopal when the cash was discovered and asserted that it did not belong to him or his family.

Following the incident, he was transferred to the Allahabad High Court.

On March 22, the Supreme Court released a report that included a video and three photographs showing bundles of cash allegedly recovered from the judge's residence.

A redacted report revealed that Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya had requested Varma on March 21 to explain the presence of cash found in a room of his bungalow.

After Varma refused to resign or retire voluntarily, Sanjiv Khanna, the then Chief Justice, forwarded the final report of the in-house inquiry committee regarding the incident to the president and the prime minister.

The committee concluded that there was substantial evidence supporting the charges against Varma, stating that the misconduct warranted the initiation of removal proceedings.

However, the report did not clarify how the fire started, the total amount of cash found, its origin, or its current whereabouts.

On July 18, Varma filed a petition with the Supreme Court challenging the findings of the in-house panel, arguing that it established an unauthorized mechanism that undermines the legal process for removing High Court judges.

He also contested the recommendation made by Khanna to the president and the prime minister to commence impeachment proceedings against him.

In his petition, Varma claimed that the inquiry committee reached its conclusions without providing him a fair chance to respond.