The Lok Sabha is scheduled to take up a bipartisan motion to remove Justice Yashwant Varma from the Allahabad High Court.
The move for removal follows a controversy from March 14, when half-burnt currency notes were discovered at Justice Varma's official residence in Delhi (when he was a judge of the Delhi High Court).
Political Consensus: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju stated that the motion has broad support, with 152 Members of Parliament (MPs) from both the ruling party and the opposition signing it.
Procedural Steps:
The proceedings will follow the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968.
The motion will be initiated in the Lok Sabha first.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is expected to appoint a three-member inquiry committee to investigate the charges against the judge.
This committee will comprise a Supreme Court judge (or the Chief Justice of India), a Chief Justice of a High Court, and a distinguished jurist.
Rajya Sabha's Role: A similar notice, signed by 63 Opposition MPs, was submitted in the Rajya Sabha on July 21. However, it has not yet been admitted, as the presiding officer sought to confirm if a parallel motion was moved in the Lok Sabha.
The Constitutional Process for Removal of a High Court Judge
The article correctly references the procedure for the removal of a judge, which is a rigorous process laid out in Article 124(4) of the Constitution of India and the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968. The key steps are:
Initiation of Motion: A removal motion must be signed by at least 100 members of the Lok Sabha or 50 members of the Rajya Sabha.
Admission of Motion: The signed motion is submitted to the Speaker (if in Lok Sabha) or the Chairman (if in Rajya Sabha), who has the discretion to admit or reject it.
Inquiry Committee: If the motion is admitted, the presiding officer constitutes a three-member committee to investigate the charges of "proved misbehaviour or incapacity."
Investigation and Report: The committee frames charges and conducts a formal inquiry. If the committee finds the judge not guilty, the process ends. If it finds the judge guilty, it submits its report to Parliament.
Parliamentary Vote: The House where the motion was introduced takes up the committee's report for consideration. The motion for removal must be passed in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha by a special majority—that is, a majority of the total membership of that House and a majority of not less than two-thirds (
2/3) of the members present and voting. Presidential Order: After the motion is passed by both Houses in the same session, an address is presented to the President of India, who then issues the order for the removal of the judge.