Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI:The Supreme Court on December 16 issued notice on a plea filed by Allahabad High Court Judge Justice Yashwant Varma, challenging the impeachment proceedings initiated against him.
Justice Varma has been at the centre of controversy since burnt cash was discovered on March 14 in an outhouse of his official residence, which had been allotted to him while he was serving in the Delhi High Court. A Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih sought responses from the office of the Lok Sabha Speaker and Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Secretariats and posted the matter for further hearing on January 7.
In his writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, Justice Varma has challenged Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision on procedural grounds, arguing that although the notices for his impeachment was given in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla constituted the committee unilaterally without awaiting admission of the motion by the Rajya Sabha Chairman and the joint consultation with the chairman as contemplated in that statute. On August 12, the Lok Sabha had read out the impeachment motion against Justice Varma, marking the beginning of proceedings under Articles 124(4), 217 and 218 of the Constitution for his possible removal.
The Speaker informed the House that he had received the motion on July 31, backed by senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad and supported by 146 Lok Sabha members and 63 Rajya Sabha members. He said he had found “substance as per the rules” in the motion and admitted it for discussion.
Birla also announced the formation of a three-member committee comprising Supreme Court judge Justice Aravind Kumar, Madras High Court Chief Justice Maninder Mohan Shrivastava, and senior advocate BV Acharya to investigate the charges.
“The committee will soon give its report, and till then the motion will remain pending,” he said. Though Justice Varma was not present at the time of the fire, a three-member in-house judicial inquiry later concluded that he exercised “secret or active control” over the cash stash.
