SC panel report in Justice Varma case not valid, says Kapil Sibal

As the Parliament’s Monsoon session is set to start on July 21, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday raised questions over the Supreme Court’s in-house inquiry report in Allahabad High Court Judge Yashwant Varma’s case.

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Sibal said the report had “no constitutional relevance” as an investigation could only take place under the Judges Inquiry Act, 1968.

“Under Article 124 of the Constitution, if 50 members of the Rajya Sabha or 100 members of the Lok Sabha submit a notice for moving a motion for impeachment, then a judges inquiry committee is set up under the Judges Inquiry Act,” Sibal told the media.

He highlighted that only Parliament has the power to constitute such a committee, said Sibal, who is also a senior advocate. Parliament can make a law, under that law an investigation will be done, and after the probe, a decision will be given on misbehaviour or incapacity of a judge, said Sibal, who is an independent MP.

Accusing the government of protecting Justice Shekhar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court, Sibal questioned the Rajya Sabha Secretariat over its attempt to reach out to him for the verification of his signature on the notice to move an impeachment motion against the judge for making “communal remarks” at a VHP event last year.

At a joint sitting of both Houses, the motion for removal of a judge has to be passed by a two-thirds majority for it to go through. So, the investigation has to be under the judges inquiry committee set up under the Judges Inquiry Act, he said. The Constitution did not recognise any in-house procedure, Sibal said.