Justice Yashwant Varma Cash Row: LS Speaker Om Birla Accepts Motion To Impeach Allahabad HC Judge, Forms 3-Member Panel

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday accepted the motion for impeachment of Justice Yashwant Varma, an Allahabad High Court Judge. The motion was signed by 146 MPs. Birla also announced a three-member panel to probe allegations against Justice Varma.

Justice Arvind Kumar, a Supreme Court Judge, Justice Maninder Mohan Srivastava, the Chief Justice Madras High Court, and BV Acharya, a senior advocate of the Karnataka High Court will are part of the panel.

"The committee will submit its report as early as possible. The proposal will remain pending till the receipt of the report of the inquiry committee," the Lok Sabha speaker said.

Reacting to the development, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, "The process will have to take its course. There is a certain procedure, and I don't think one has to make any comments now. The decision has been made to constitute an impeachment committee. They will have to look into all the evidence and come to a conclusion."

On August 7, the Supreme Court dismissed Justice Varma's writ petition challenging the in-house inquiry that indicted him, and the subsequent recommendation by then Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna for his removal. The plea was rejected by a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and AG Masih.

All About The Cash Recovery Row:

The controversy stems from a fire incident on March 14 at Justice Varma's Delhi residence. A large amount of cash was discovered at an outhouse in the official residence of Justice Varma. At the time of the incident, he was a Delhi High Court judge. Following public uproar, the then CJI constituted a three-judge in-house panel to probe the matter.

The committee, after examining 55 witnesses and electronic evidence, concluded that the storeroom was under the "covert or active control" of Justice Varma or his family. His failure to explain the source of cash led the panel to recommend action.