"Process Of Removal Should Begin": Probe Panel Formed Over Judge In Cash Row

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday announced a three-member panel to probe allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma, at whose Delhi residence large piles of burnt cash were found in March this year. The committee includes Justice Aravind Kumar of the Supreme Court, Justice MM Shrivastava of the Madras High Court, and senior advocate of the Karnataka High Court BV Acharya.

Mr Birla also accepted an impeachment motion against Justice Varma signed by 146 Members of Parliament.

"The process of removal of Justice Yashwant Varma should begin. The Parliament is united against corruption. We have accepted the impeachment motion...People have faith in the judiciary," Mr Birla said.

Justice Varma - who could become the first High Court judge in independent India to be removed from office - is being investigated by Parliament under Articles 124, 217, and 218 of the Constitution over the cash-at-home row.

The three-member committee - which has the power to call for evidence and examine witnesses - will submit its report to the Lok Sabha Speaker, who will place it before the House. If the Judge is found guilty, a motion will be put to a vote to impeach Justice Varma, followed by a similar procedure in the Rajya Sabha. The motion will then be sent to the President for approval.

This comes a week after the MPs - both from the opposition and government's ranks - had submitted a notice to the Lok Sabha Speaker calling for an investigation into Justice Varma and the cash-at-home row.

'XXX' vs Union of India

A huge controversy broke out on March 15 after firefighters called to Justice Varma's bungalow in Delhi discovered piles of money that had been burnt by a fire. This raised questions about corruption in the highest levels of the judicial system in the country.

While Justice Varma denied any link to the cash and called the allegations against him "preposterous", the top court set up an in-house panel that recommended his impeachment. The panel's report was forwarded to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi - by then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna - with the same recommendation.

Following this, Justice Varma wrote a petition challenging the top court panel's recommendation to remove him. He, however, had kept his identity a secret in the petition - and was then referred to as 'XXX' in court documents. In his writ petition, Justice Varma had offered the two-judge bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and AG Masih five reasons why he could not be sacked, including questions over the jurisdiction and authority of the in-house committee to investigate a sitting judge.

However, the Supreme Court on July 30 knocked back his challenge, ruling that the Judge's petition was "not worth entertaining" and reproached him for his "not confidence-inspiring conduct".