Rajya Sabha receives notice for removal of Justice Varma, says Dhankhar

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday said he has received a notice for the removal of High Court Judge Yashwant Varma and asked the Secretary General to take necessary steps.

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Wads of burnt currency notes were recovered from the official residence of Justice Varma in Delhi in March this year. He was later transferred to the Allahabad High Court.

Dhankhar said that he has received a notice of motion under Article 217 (1B), read with Article 218, and Article 124, sub-article 4 of the Constitution of India, along with Section 31B of the Judges Enquiry Act 1968, to constitute a committee for removal of Justice Varma.

"This (notice) has been received by me today. It has been signed by more than 50 members of the Council of States. Thus, it meets the numerical requirement of signing by members of Parliament for setting in motion the process of removal of a high court judge," Dhankhar said.

On Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal's confirmation that a notice has also been submitted in the Lok Sabha, Dhankhar asked the Secretary General to "take necessary steps in this direction".

The Rajya Sabha Chairman also mentioned that a notice was submitted by MPs in December last year for the removal of Justice Shekhar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court, and an enquiry revealed that a member, whose signature was found twice on the notice, had denied signing it two times.

"I examined that and found one member had signed at two places. The result was that the motion represented 55 signatures, but it was only 54," he said. "It was required of me to get to the bottom of the issue and find out whether the representation was meriting consideration. The process was initiated for verification of signatures and authentication. That process is under progress. I will get an update and come back to the House."

He added that if the requisite number of members verify their signatures and the number goes above 50, he would "proceed" and "deal with the issue of the signature that has been twice there and not owned by the member in a different manner".

"I will discuss (the matter) with floor leaders what steps this House needs to take about such transgressions," he said.

Opposition MPs had moved an impeachment notice in the Rajya Sabha last December against Justice Shekhar Yadav for allegedly delivering a hate speech at a gathering.

On the incident of recovery of cash in the House in December, Dhankhar said it was concerning that no one has claimed it.

"I have asked the authorities to get into the matter seriously," he said.

During the Winter Session of Parliament in December last year, a wad of currency notes was recovered from the seat of Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

Singhvi had said that the money did not belong to him.