NEW DELHI: Signalling the government’s intent to move ahead with the impeachment motion of Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said that main opposition parties have given their in-principle approval to support the motion in the upcoming monsoon session scheduled for July21-August 21.
Rijiju said that the government is yet to decide whether the motion would be brought in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. For the Lok Sabha, signatures of a minimum 100 MPs is required. The requirement is the support of at least 50 MPs in the Rajya Sabha.
He said that the process of collecting signatures would begin after the government decides on the House where the motion will be brought.
According to the Judges (Inquiry) Act of 1968, once a motion to remove a judge is admitted in any of the Houses, the speaker or the chairman, as the case may be, will constitute a three-member committee to probe the grounds on which the removal (or, in popular term, impeachment) has been sought.
The committee consists of the CJI or a Supreme Court judge, the chief justice of one of the 25 high courts and a “distinguished jurist.” Rijiju said that since the matter involves corruption in the judiciary, the government wants all political parties to be on board.
On being asked about the report of the committee, which proved the cash discovery at Justice Varma’s residence, he said that the report of the three-judge panel was meant to recommend future course of action as Parliament can only remove a judge. A fire incident at Justice Varma’s Delhi residence in March had led to the discovery of several burnt sacks of banknotes in the outhouse.
