New Delhi, 7 August

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined the plea of Justice Yashwant Varma Allahabad High Court challenging the in-house three-judge inquiry committee's report and former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna's recommendation to initiate impeachment proceedings against him.

A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih rejected Justice Yashwant Varma's plea that stated that he was not given a fair opportunity to respond to the in-house inquiry committee before it presented its findings.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appeared on behalf of Justice Varma.

This comes after cash was allegedly found by fire tenders when a fire broke out at his Delhi residence on 14 March, while he was a judge of the Delhi High Court. The judge was not present at his house.

During a hearing on 28 July, the apex court had posed various questions to Justice Yashwant Varma while hearing his plea.

The court asked Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing on behalf of Justice Varma, why his client did not challenge the three-judge in-house inquiry procedure constituted by the Chief Justice of India prior to his appearance before the panel.

The top court questioned why Justice Varma chose to appear before the in-house inquiry panel if he believed it was unconstitutional, and why he is challenging it only now, after the proceedings have concluded.

"There have been instances in the past where judges have abstained from appearing before such inquiry panels, then why did you appear? Did you think they were going to pass a favourable decision? You're a constitutional authority. You can't say that you didn't know. You should have immediately come to this Court. You should've raised these points earlier", the bench asked the senior counsel representing Justice Varma.

Meanwhile, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju stated that the motion to remove Justice Yashwant Varma, will be moved in Lok Sabha first, as per the rules.

He said that the removal of Justice Varma should be a joint decision.

"The motion for the removal of Justice Yashwant Varma will be raised in the Lok Sabha, and then subsequently, it will be concurred by the Rajya Sabha. All political parties have agreed that the removal of Justice Yashwant Verma has to be a joint call," Rijiju told reporters here.

He emphasised that initiating the impeachment process of Justice Verma was a collective responsibility of the Parliament, not just the government alone.

"We have been making efforts in relation to the matter of Justice Yashwant Verma. We have clearly stated that it is not only the government's efforts, but the entire Parliament is responsible for addressing the issue of corruption in the judiciary and removing judges from the Supreme Court or High Court. We should not be divided on this issue," the Union Minister said.