MPs Move Motion for Removal of Justice Yashwant Varma in Both Houses
Cash stash found after house fire leads MPs to seek ouster of high court judge; inquiry finds serious misconduct.
The process for the removal of High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma began on Monday, with Members of Parliament from both Houses submitting motions under the Judges Inquiry Act, 1968.
In the Lok Sabha, 145 MPs, including Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, submitted a memorandum to Speaker Om Birla. The impeachment motion against Justice Varma has been moved under Articles 124, 217, and 218 of the Constitution. Signatories include MPs from Congress, TDP, JDU, JDS, Jan Sena Party, AGP, SS (Shinde), LJSP, SKP, and CPM. Notable names among them are Anurag Singh Thakur, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, PP Chaudhary, Supriya Sule, and KC Venugopal.
In the Rajya Sabha, 63 Opposition MPs submitted a notice to Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar seeking Justice Varma’s removal. According to the procedure, the motion must be signed by at least 100 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 50 MPs in the Rajya Sabha.
“Today, 63 Rajya Sabha MPs from various Opposition parties submitted a notice of motion to the Chairman for the removal of Justice Yashwant Varma under the Judges Inquiry Act, 1968. A similar motion for Justice Shekhar Yadav had been submitted in December 2024,” said Congress MP Jairam Ramesh.
If admitted, the Speaker or Chairman will constitute a three-member inquiry committee comprising a Supreme Court judge, a sitting Chief Justice of a High Court, and a distinguished jurist. The committee will investigate the charges and submit its report within three months. Based on the findings, Parliament will debate and vote on the motion.
Justice Varma, who has denied any wrongdoing, faces allegations following a Supreme Court-appointed in-house panel report that linked him and his family to a storeroom where large sums of cash were discovered—allegedly proving serious misconduct.
