NEW DELHI: The Centre has begun reaching out to key political parties to build consensus on initiating a removal motion against Justice Yashwant Varma, according to News18.
Senior officials said that the formal process to collect signatures from MPs to move the motion in Parliament is likely to begin next week.
Earlier in June, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told Indian Express that he had reached out to the opposition parties. “I have reached out to the leaders of all major political parties. It’s not a political issue, it’s a matter of seriousness related to corruption in the judiciary. There is no scope for any political angle in it. We will evolve a consensus,” Rijiju said.
According to the News18 report, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar is also likely to give a ruling in the case soon.
Wads of currency notes were discovered at Justice Varma’s official residence when a fire broke out there on March 14. The Supreme Court-appointed three-member panel recommended the impeachment of Justice Varma. The in-house panel, comprising Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal Pradesh Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia, and Karnataka High Court’s Justice Anu Sivaraman, submitted its findings to former Chief Justice of India on May 4.
After a motion for impeachment is adopted, the Speaker/ Chairman must constitute a three-member committee of inquiry. The panel will be headed by the Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court judge, and including a Chief Justice of any High Court, and a person who is in the opinion of the Speaker/ Chairman, a “distinguished jurist”. If the committee finds the individual guilty, the report is adopted by the House in which it was introduced, and the judge’s removal is debated.
Sanjiv Khanna initiated the process for the removal of justice Varma by writing to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating that the allegations of recovery of cash at the judge’s residence was serious and warranted initiation of proceedings for his removal.
Agencies