Impeach Justice Varma: Govt to decide to bring motion in Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha
Verification of MPs signatures underway
Impeachment may spill over to Winter session of Parliament
Harish Gupta
Even as the opposition is readying its ammunition against the government during the Monsoon session of parliament on various issues, there is near unanimity between them with regard to impeaching Justice Yashwant Varma, a sitting judge of the high court, for his alleged involvement in a corruption case.
There is also unanimity that the motion to impeach Justice Varma be brought during the Monsoon session itself and passed in both houses of parliament. But there are two issues that the stake-holders are to decide; whether the motion be brought in the Rajya Sabha first or the Lok Sabha and then form a 3-member inquiry committee to probe the charges afresh and submit the report in a shortest time-frame.
It is likely that the Impeachment proceedings cannot be initiated against the said Judge in the Monsoon session and it may spill over to the Winter session of parliament, say sources. It is learnt that the Rajya Sabha secretariat has almost completed the task of verifying the signatures of 50 MPs on the impeachment motion and may be ready to be tabled in the first week of the session itself. The Opposition and the government are on the same page on the issue. Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena (UBT) said that motion is to be brought in the Rajya Sabha. Though there are many in the government who are keen to complete the process within the 31-day session itself. But this is not possible as the report by a three-member committee of the Supreme Court against justice Yashwant Varma, will not be taken into account. The Parliament will have to rely on its own inquiry committee report.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has also initiated the process and if at least 100 Lok Sabha MPs sign a notice to impeach justice Varma, the same may be taken up there also. Any of the two houses will form a panel comprising a Supreme Court judge, high court chief justice and an eminent jurist.
