Supreme Court Rejects Justice Yashwant Varma's Plea Against Impeachment Inquiry

The Supreme Court on Thursday denied the appeal of Justice Yashwant Varma of the Allahabad High Court, who challenged both the report from a three-judge in-house inquiry and former Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna's recommendation for impeachment proceedings against him. The verdict was passed by a bench comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih.

Justice Varma's contention centered on the alleged lack of opportunity to respond to the inquiry committee's findings, with Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal representing him. The controversy stems from alleged cash discovered by fire responders at his Delhi residence in March, during his tenure at the Delhi High Court.

During a prior hearing, the apex court questioned Justice Varma through Senior Advocate Sibal on why he engaged with the inquiry panel if he deemed it unconstitutional, highlighting the delayed legal challenge. The court expressed skepticism over the reasoning that Varma, a constitutional authority, lacked awareness of his rights during the proceedings.

Concurrently, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju emphasized that the potential impeachment of Justice Varma would start in the Lok Sabha and require a collective parliamentary decision. Rijiju underlined the need for a unified stance against judicial corruption, asserting it as a responsibility shared across the government and Parliament.

(With inputs from agencies.)