Speaker Om Birla sets up three-member panel to probe Justice Varma cash row case

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday constituted 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 Speaker named Justice Aravind Kumar of the Supreme Court, Justice Maninder Mohan Shrivastava of the Madras High Court, and BV Acharya, senior advocate of the Karnataka High Court, to the committee. 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,” 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 has the power to call for evidence and examine witnesses, and will submit its report to the 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.

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

Justice Varma denied any link to the cash and called the allegations against him “preposterous,” but 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.

Supreme Court raps judge

Justice Varma then filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the top court panel’s recommendation to remove him, but he kept his identity a secret in the petition and was 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, on July 30, the Supreme Court said in its ruling that the judge’s petition was “not worth entertaining” and reproached him.

The apex court rapped Justice Varma, saying that his conduct did not inspire confidence, and also defended the CJI’s authority to act on any judicial misconduct, saying he cannot be merely a “post office” but has certain duties to the nation.