MPs across party lines submit notices in both LS, RS for impeachment of Justice Yashwant Varma

A total of 145 Lok Sabha members have signed the impeachment motion against High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma under Articles 124, 217, and 218 of the Constitution and submitted a memorandum to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday to remove the High Court judge in connection with the cash discovery row.

Meanwhile, 63 opposition MPs on Monday gave a parallel notice in the Rajya Sabha to move a motion for the removal of high court judge Yashwant Varma. The notice was handed over to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.

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The Lok Sabha MPs from various parties, including Congress, TDP, JD(U), JD(S), Jan Sena Party, AGP, SS (Shinde), LJSP, SKP, and CPM signed the memorandum. Prominent signatories include MPs Anurag Singh Thakur, Ravi Shankar Prasad, LoP Rahul Gandhi, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, PP Chaudhary, Supriya Sule and KC Venugopal.

The move comes after the alleged discovery of burnt and half-burnt Rs 500 currency notes at Justice Varma’s official residence in the national capital on March 15, 2025. Parliament will now investigate these allegations.

Following the cash-discovery episode, which sent shockwaves across the judicial corridors, Justice Varma was repatriated to the Allahabad High Court, and an in-house probe was set up to probe the allegations.

The three-member inquiry committee, constituted by then CJI Justice Khanna, found the allegations serious enough to merit impeachment proceedings against Justice Varma.

According to sources, the Union government is preparing to initiate removal proceedings against Justice Varma, and an impeachment motion will likely be brought in the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

A judicial committee of three High Court judges appointed by then Chief Justice of India Sanjeev Khanna had indicted Justice Varma and referred the matter to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Justice Varma had approached the Supreme Court against the committee’s findings.

Meanwhile, Justice Varma has filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court challenging his indictment by the three-member in-house committee. As per his petition, the in-house panel acted in a “pre-determined manner” and denied Justice Varma a fair opportunity to defend himself.

Earlier, Congress MP K Suresh said that the party extended its full support to the impeachment move against High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, joining hands with the INDIA bloc parties.

“The INDIA bloc parties are also supporting this and are also signing the letters to the Speaker,” Congress MP K Suresh told a news agency in the national capital after attending an all-party meeting convened by the government ahead of the Parliament Monsoon session.

Suresh said that the Congress had already provided 40 signatures to back the motion and was working with other opposition members to complete the required tally.

On Sunday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju confirmed that more than 100 Members of Parliament had signed the notice for Justice Varma’s removal.