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The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea by Allahabad high court judge Yashwant Varma challenging the Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision to admit a motion seeking his removal and legality of the parliamentary panel probing corruption charges against him.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and SC Sharma, which had reserved its decision on January 8 on Varma’s plea, pronounced the verdict.
On January 8, the top court said if the vice president can exercise the functions of the president in the absence of the president, then why cannot the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman exercise the functions of the chairman in the absence of the chairman.
The remarks were made by the bench which refused to agree with the submission made on behalf of Justice Varma that the deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha had no power to reject a motion and, under the Judges (Inquiry) Act of 1968, only the Speaker and the chairman have the power to accept or reject a motion against a judge.
Justice Varma was repatriated from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court after burnt wads of currency notes were found at his official residence in New Delhi on March 14.
The top court had earlier orally observed that there was no bar under the Judges Inquiry Act on Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla setting up an inquiry committee to probe corruption charges against Varma after a similar motion was rejected in the Rajya Sabha.
