IN A MAJOR SETBACK for Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, the Supreme Court on Friday rejected his petition challenging the decision of the Lok Sabha Speaker to admit a motion for his removal as a High Court judge and to constitute a three-member inquiry committee under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 to investigate allegations against him.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma found no infirmity in the Speaker's decision.
The allegations against Justice Varma relate to the alleged recovery of unaccounted cash by Delhi Fire Service personnel on March 14, 2025, from an outhouse at his official residence during a firefighting operation.
Before the Supreme Court, Justice Varma contended that the Speaker could not have constituted the committee unilaterally because notices for his removal had been given in both Houses of Parliament on the same day.
He relied on the first proviso to Section 3(2) of the Judges (Inquiry) Act, which contemplates a situation where notices are given in both Houses on the same day. In such a case, "no committee shall be constituted unless the motion has been admitted in both Houses; and where such motion has been admitted in both Houses, the committee shall be constituted jointly by the Speaker and the Chairman".
![“We as [future] lawyers have to stand with the student community in India”: From NALSAR to TISS, growing student anger is reshaping the CJI’s public calendar](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAD/ACwAAAAAAQABAAACADs=)