Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday announced a three-member panel to probe corruption charges against Justice Yashwant Varma, beginning the process for the removal of the Allahabad High Court judge from whose official residence wads of unaccounted cash were allegedly found.
The three-member panel includes Justice Aravind Kumar of the Supreme Court; the Chief Justice of Madras High Court, Justice Maninder Mohan; and senior advocate B.V. Acharya of Karnataka High Court.
“The committee will submit its report as early as possible. The proposal will remain pending till the receipt of the report,” the Speaker told the House, accepting the motion signed by 146 MPs from the ruling and Opposition benches seeking the removal of the judge.
According to the procedure laid down in Article 124 (4) of the Constitution, the probe committee is to submit its report to the Speaker, who will then place it before the House. If the judge is found guilty of misconduct, a motion will be moved and put to vote in the House for his removal.
According to the rules, at least two-thirds of those present and voting in the Lok Sabha must vote in support of the motion for impeachment of the judge. After the Lok Sabha, the motion has to be moved and passed in the Rajya Sabha as well. The resolution of the two Houses will then be placed before the President.
While attempts have been made in the past to impeach judges, no judge has been removed from office through this process. Justice Soumitra Sen of Calcutta High Court was the first to face impeachment proceedings in 2011, but he resigned before the process was completed.
The impeachment process was started after the Supreme Court earlier this month dismissed Justice Varma’s plea challenging the in-house inquiry report that found him guilty of misconduct. The judge had accused the panel of acting in a “pre-determined manner”, denying him a fair opportunity to defend himself.
Stacks of cash were allegedly found following a fire in the storeroom of Varma’s residence in Delhi in March this year. The judge was transferred from Delhi High Court to Allahabad High Court and all judicial work was withdrawn from him. The in-house inquiry panel found Justice Verma guilty of misconduct, saying there was “sufficient substance” in the allegations.