Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai on Wednesday recused himself from hearing a petition filed by Justice Yashwant Varma of the Allahabad High Court. The plea challenges the findings of an internal inquiry panel that held Justice Varma guilty of misconduct in relation to a controversial cash recovery case.
Chief Justice Gavai, while addressing senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who mentioned the matter on behalf of Justice Varma, stated clearly,"It will not be possible for me to take up this matter because I was also part of the committee. We will list it. I will have to constitute a bench."
The bench, presided over by the CJI, also included Justices K. Vinod Chandran and Joymalya Bagchi. Given the recusal, the matter will now be listed before a new bench.
Senior advocate Sibal requested urgent listing of the case, stating that the petition raises several constitutional issues that require immediate attention.
Justice Varma’s petition not only questions the findings of the in-house inquiry panel but also seeks to nullify the recommendation made on 8 May by then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna. Justice Khanna had urged Parliament to initiate impeachment proceedings against Justice Varma based on the panel’s findings.
The three-member panel, headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, had conducted a ten-day inquiry. It reportedly examined 55 witnesses and visited the scene of an accidental fire that occurred around 11:35 pm on 14 March at Justice Varma’s official residence in Delhi. At the time, he was a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court. He has since been transferred to the Allahabad High Court.
On Monday, a petition to impeach Justice Varma was submitted to Parliament. It bore the signatures of 145 Lok Sabha MPs and 63 Rajya Sabha MPs, surpassing the constitutional requirement for such a motion, 100 MPs from the Lok Sabha and 50 from the Rajya Sabha.
The list of signatories included a mix of ruling and opposition leaders such as Anurag Thakur, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Rahul Gandhi, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, P.P. Chaudhary, Supriya Sule, and K.C. Venugopal. The notice was filed under Articles 124, 217, and 218 of the Constitution, which govern the procedure for the removal of judges of the higher judiciary.
Now that the motion has been submitted, it awaits a decision from the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha on whether to admit or reject it.
