New Delhi, Jan 16: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a petition by Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Varma challenging the Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision to admit a motion for his removal and the legality of the parliamentary panel investigating corruption allegations against him.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and SC Sharma pronounced the verdict, having reserved it on January 8. The bench noted that just as the Vice President can perform presidential duties in the President’s absence, the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman can exercise the Chairman’s functions, including rejecting motions.
Justice Varma’s plea argued that under the Judges (Inquiry) Act of 1968, only the Speaker and the Chairman had the authority to accept or reject a motion against a judge. The top court disagreed, observing there is no bar under the Act for the Speaker to set up an inquiry committee to probe corruption charges after a similar motion was rejected in the Rajya Sabha.
The controversy stems from burnt wads of currency notes found at Justice Varma’s official residence in Delhi on March 14, after which he was repatriated to the Allahabad High Court from the Delhi High Court. Following an in-house inquiry initiated by then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, a three-member committee found him guilty of misconduct.
After Varma refused to resign, the report and his response were forwarded to the President and Prime Minister, paving the way for impeachment proceedings. On August 12, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla admitted a multi-party motion for Varma’s removal and constituted a three-member inquiry committee comprising Supreme Court Justice Aravind Kumar, Madras High Court Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava, and senior advocate B V Acharya.
Justice Varma had sought to quash the Speaker’s action, the admission of the motion, and all notices issued by the committee, claiming the process was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court, however, dismissed his petition, allowing the parliamentary inquiry to continue.
