Supreme Court Dismisses Justice Varma’s Plea Challenging Parliamentary Panel Probe into Corruption Allegations

New Delhi, Jan 16: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea by Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Varma challenging the Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision to admit a motion seeking his removal and the legality of the parliamentary panel investigating corruption charges against him.

A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and SC Sharma, which had reserved its verdict on January 8, pronounced the dismissal. The court noted that if the vice president can exercise presidential functions in the president’s absence, similarly, the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman can perform the functions of the chairman, including rejecting motions.

Justice Varma had argued that, under the Judges (Inquiry) Act of 1968, only the Speaker and the Chairman have the authority to accept or reject a motion against a judge. The bench, however, rejected this contention.

The case traces back to March 14, when burnt currency notes were found at Justice Varma’s official residence in New Delhi, leading to his repatriation from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court. An in house three member committee, constituted by then CJI Sanjiv Khanna, found Varma guilty of misconduct in a report submitted on May 4.

After Justice Varma declined to resign, the Chief Justice forwarded the report and Varma’s response to the President and the Prime Minister, paving the way for impeachment proceedings. Subsequently, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla admitted a multi-party motion for Varma’s removal on August 12 and constituted a three member inquiry panel to probe the allegations further.

Justice Varma’s plea sought to quash the Speaker’s action, the admission of the motion, and all consequential notices issued by the inquiry committee, claiming the process was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court’s verdict upholds the parliamentary panel’s authority to continue its investigation.