Cash Recovery Row: Over 200 MPs Submit Memorandum To LS Speaker For Impeachment Of Justice Yashwant Varma

New Delhi: Over 200 Members of Parliament (MPs) on Monday submitted a memorandum to the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to remove High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma in connection with the cash recovery row. Out of the total MPs, 63 are from the Rajya Sabha and 145 from the Lok Sabha.

The impeachment motion was signed against Justice Varma under Articles 124, 217, and 218 of the Constitution, reported ANI. MPs from political parties, including the Congress, TDP, JDU, JDS, Jan Sena Party, AGP, SS (Shinde), LJSP, SKP, etc, signed the memorandum.

Among the notable signatories are MPs Anurag Singh Thakur, Ravi Shankar Prasad, LoP Rahul Gandhi, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, PP Chaudhary, Supriya Sule, KC Venugopal, and others.

"The INDIA bloc parties are also supporting this and are also signing the letters to the Speaker," Congress MP K Suresh told ANI after attending an all party meeting convened by the government ahead of Parliament's Monsoon session. As per Suresh, the Congress had already provided 40 signatures to back the motion and was working with other opposition members to complete the required tally.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court refused to list for urgent hearing a plea seeking the registration of an FIR against Justice Varma. A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran heard the petition filed by lawyer Mathews.

"Do you want it to be dismissed right now?" the CJI asked, adding that it will be listed in due course, reported PTI. "It is impossible to be dismissed. An FIR has to be registered. Now Varma seems to be asking for that only. There has to be an FIR, an investigation," the lawyer said.

The bench took strong note of the fact that the lawyer addressed the high court judge as 'Varma'. "Is he your friend? He is still Justice Verma. How do you address him? Have some decorum. You are referring to a learned judge. He is still a judge of the court," the CJI said as quoted by PTI.

"I don't think that greatness can apply to him. Matter has to be listed," the lawyer insisted. "Please don't dictate to the court," the CJI said.

In March this year, burnt and half-burnt Rs 500 currency notes were allegedly recovered from Justice Varma's official residence in the national capital.

A judicial committee of three High Court judges appointed by then Chief Justice of India Sanjeev Khanna had indicted Justice Varma and referred the matter to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Justice Varma had approached the Supreme Court against the committee's findings.

Published on: Monday, July 21, 2025, 04:09 PM IST