Setting up motion on Impeachment procedures, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has formally engaged advocates Rohan Singh and Sameeksha Dua as consultants to assist the committee formed to investigate Allahabad High Court Judge Justice Yashwant Varma. On August 12, the Speaker initiated the process to impeach Justice Varma from his position as a High Court judge with the formation of a committee to investigate the discovery of cash at Justice Varma’s official residence when he was a judge of the Delhi High Court.
The motion signed by 146 Members of Parliament was accepted by the Speaker. In accordance with the Judges (Inquiry) Act, Lok Sabha Speaker then constituted a committee to probe the incident comprising Justice Supreme Court judge Aravind Kumar, Madras High Court Chief Justice Manindra
Mohan Shrivastava and Senior Advocate B Vasudeva Acharya.
The allegations against Justice Varma surfaced after a fire at Justice Varma’s house on the evening of March 14 had led to the recovery of unaccounted cash by the fire fighters.
The incident led to allegations of corruption against Justice Varma, who denied the accusations and said that it appeared to be a conspiracy to frame him.
Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna then initiated an in-house probe into the allegations and set up the three-member committee on March 22 to conduct the inquiry. An in-house committee constituted by the Supreme Court had earlier indicted the judge and recommended his removal.
