New Delhi: The Congress has asked the Centre for the report of the Supreme Court-appointed committee investigating allegations of corruption against Justice Yashwant Varma. The Union government has informed the party of its decision to initiate impeachment proceedings against the judge, sources said Friday.
Congress sources told ThePrint that the party conveyed to the government that access to the committee’s report was essential to determine its position on the proposed impeachment of Justice Varma, who is currently posted at the Allahabad High Court but has not been assigned any judicial work.
The government has indicated that it plans to bring an impeachment motion against Justice Varma during the monsoon session of Parliament which is slated to begin on 21 July.
On 14 March, wads of currency notes were discovered in a room at Justice Varma’s official residence in New Delhi, while he was serving as a judge at the Delhi High Court. The incident sent shockwaves through judicial and political circles.
Justice Varma was subsequently repatriated to the Allahabad High Court by the Supreme Court Collegium and has rejected the allegations against him in response to probes undertaken by the Delhi High Court chief justice and the SC committee.
While the Congress has formally demanded the inquiry report of the SC committee, some of its legal brains have argued that the report of the panel could not be the sole basis to impeach the judge.
The committee, set up by former Chief Justice of India Sanjeev Khanna, comprised the chief justices of Punjab and Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice GS Sandhawalia respectively, and Karnataka High court judge Justice Anu Sivaraman.
The committee submitted its report on 3 May. On 8 May, days before his retirement, Justice Khanna wrote to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, enclosing a copy of the inquiry report and Justice Varma’s response.
Congress sources said that the party is consulting legal experts on the need to get the government to follow the Judges (Inquiry) Act of 1968 which kicks in once a motion to remove a judge is admitted in any of the chambers of Parliament.
Under the Act, the Speaker or the Chairman, as the case may be, will constitute a three-member committee to investigate the grounds on which the removal (impeachment) has been sought. The committee consists of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) or a Supreme Court judge, the Chief Justice of one of the 25 high courts and a ‘distinguished jurist’.
In a public statement Wednesday, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha also questioned the unavailability of the three-member SC committee report with MPs.
“Chairman Rajya Sabha, an eminent SC lawyer, is on record saying that the three judge inquiry report has no constitutional or legal sanctity. It’s conducted for the benefit of CJI & SC judges. Not a legal material for parliamentarians to move a motion! Is the government short of legal advice?” Tankha asked.
Earlier, when Dhankhar sought to make a case for the revival of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) citing the Justice Varma episode, the Congress had indicated that it was open to the idea of changes in the judicial appointments process.
“The recent incident of recovery of cash from the residence of a judge is indeed alarming. While the Congress Party recognises that an independent judiciary is intrinsic to protection of Constitutional principles and democracy, it is also true that Judiciary must set safeguards and standards for accountability. A mechanism for judicial accountability, without compromising judicial independence, is the need of the hour,” stated a resolution adopted by the All India Congress Committee at its session in Ahmedabad in April.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: Hidden in plain sight: The unanswered questions in the Justice Varma cash controversy
