New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Tuesday formed a three-member committee to investigate allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma of the Allahabad High Court, days after the Supreme Court upheld the validity of an in-house inquiry recommending his removal.
Speaker Om Birla announced that Justice Amit Kumar, Justice Maninder Mohan Srivastava, and senior advocate B.B. Acharya will comprise the panel. The move follows a motion signed by 146 Members of Parliament calling for Varma’s impeachment.
The case stems from a March 2024 incident in which burnt currency notes, allegedly unaccounted for, were recovered from Justice Varma’s Delhi residence after a fire broke out while he was serving as a judge of the Delhi High Court.
On August 7, the Supreme Court dismissed Justice Varma’s petition challenging the report of the three-judge in-house inquiry committee and the recommendation by then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna to initiate impeachment proceedings.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih rejected arguments from Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who contended that Varma was denied a fair opportunity to present his case before the panel. The court noted that Varma participated in the inquiry without questioning its legality, only challenging it after the process concluded.
The parliamentary probe marks the next stage in proceedings that could lead to the rare removal of a sitting High Court judge in India.
