All Parties On Board For Removing Judge In Cash-At-Home Case: Kiren Rijiju

All parties are on board with the impeachment of Justice Yashwant Varma, from whose house a large amount of cash was found in March, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told news agency PTI today.

He said he is speaking to MPs cutting across party lines to take a unified stand on the matter, and so far it has been heading in the right direction.

"Corruption in the judiciary is an extremely sensitive and serious matter because the judiciary is where people get justice. If there is corruption in the judiciary, it is a serious concern for everybody. That is why justice Yashant Varma's removal motion is to be signed by all the political parties. For that I have already coordinated and spoken to all senior leaders of different political parties," the Union minister said.

"I will also get in touch with some of the single MP parties because I don't want to leave out any member. So it becomes a unified stand of parliament," he said, and acknowledged the Congress agreeing to support the motion.

"I'm happy that they understood the things as they should be because no party can be seen to be standing with or protecting a corrupt judge," Mr Rijiju said.

He did not give a timeline by when the motion would be placed in parliament, citing there is a need for all leaders to come on board first.

"I can't give a timeline because we are still collecting signatures," he said.

For a judge to be removed, the motion has to be signed by not less than 100 MPs in the Lok Sabha and not less than 50 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. After that, a petition has to be submitted to the Chair.

"The Chair will inform the house about constituting an inquiry. The requirement of a three-month period needs to be completed as per the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968. After this step, the report will be tabled in parliament and discussions will follow in both houses," Mr Rijiju said. ""The procedure and the rules which are before us show that it will take some time."

A fire incident at Justice Varma's Lutyens' Delhi house in March, when he was a judge of the Delhi High Court, had led to the discovery of sacks of half-burnt cash.

He was subsequently repatriated to the Allahabad High Court, but no judicial work was assigned to him. An in-house investigation ordered by then Chief Justice of India Sanjeev Khanna indicted him.

Though Justice Varma has denied wrongdoing, the inquiry panel concluded the judge and his family members had covert or active control over the storeroom where the case stash was found, making it a case serious enough to seek his removal.

On former law minister Kapil Sibal's remarks drawing a parallel between Justice Varma and Justice Shekhar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court over the latter's "controversial" statement, Mr Rijiju said parliament cannot be guided by "one lawyer-MP's personal agenda".

"We will not be driven by one lawyer-MP's agenda. We are not here to set an agenda or drive an agenda. We are working purely in the interest of the country," Mr Rijiju said. "He is a very average lawyer... He cannot guide the parliament of India. The parliament will be guided by MPs," the Union Minister said.