Centre to Collect Signatures of MPs to Remove Justice Varma Soon
For Lok Sabha, signatures of a minimum 100 MPs is required. For the Rajya Sabha, the requirement is the support of at least 50 MPs.
New Delhi: Union minister Kiren Rijiju said on Thursday that prominent Opposition parties have given their in-principle approval to support a motion to remove Allahabad High Court Judge Yashwant Varma, and the process of collecting signatures could begin soon.
He added that the government has not yet decided whether to introduce the motion in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. A minimum of 100 MPs’ signatures is required in the Lok Sabha, and at least 50 MPs’ support is needed in the Rajya Sabha. Signatures will be collected once the government finalises the House in which the motion will be tabled.
The Monsoon Session runs from July 21 to August 21.
Under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, once a removal motion is admitted in either House, the Speaker or Chairman will constitute a three-member committee, comprising the Chief Justice of India (or a Supreme Court judge), the chief justice of one of the High Courts, and a distinguished jurist, to investigate the grounds for “impeachment.”
Rijiju noted that, because the matter involves allegations of judicial corruption, the government wants all parties on board.
When asked about the Supreme Court-appointed committee’s report on the cash-discovery incident at Justice Varma’s official residence, he said the report did not indict the judge but was meant to recommend a way forward, since only Parliament can remove a judge.
In March, while serving on the Delhi High Court, Justice Varma’s residence caught fire, revealing several burnt sacks of banknotes in an outhouse. Although the judge claimed ignorance, the committee interviewed witnesses and recorded his statement. Then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna reportedly urged Justice Varma to resign, but he refused. He has since been repatriated to the Allahabad High Court and has not been assigned any judicial work.
Justice Khanna also wrote to the President and Prime Minister recommending removal—the required procedure for dismissing higher-judiciary members.
