Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday admitted a notice for the removal of High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma and constituted a three-member committee to probe charges against him.
What did Birla say?
Making the announcement in the Lok Sabha, Birla said the process of removal of Justice Varma should begin as the charges against him were serious in nature.
The speaker set up a three-member committee comprising Supreme Court judge Justice Aravind Kumar, Madras High Court Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and senior advocate of Karnataka High Court B V Acharya.”
The committee will submit its report as early as possible. The proposal (for removal of Justice Varma) will remain pending till the receipt of the report of the inquiry committee,” Birla said
Tracing the history of the case against Justice Verma
The Justice Yashwant Varma case in India involves allegations of misconduct against a High Court judge following a fire that broke out at his official residence in March this year, where burnt currency notes were found.
Following the discovery of the burnt notes, a Supreme Court Collegium recommended Varma’s transfer from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court. Furthermore, a CJI Sanjiv Khanna constituted a three-member committee to investigate the cash haul.
Allahabad High Court Bar Association then staged a protest and demanded his impeachment. They also demanded an investigation into the case. The inquiry committee submitted a 64-page report to the CJI after examining 55 witnesses and reviewing evidence. The report noted “strong inferential evidence” that Justice Varma had control over the storeroom and cash.
Justice Varma challenged the in-house inquiry process, claiming it lacked the authority to recommend his removal and violated his rights. The Supreme Court ultimately dismissed his petition, upholding the validity of the in-house procedure.