LS names panel to probe charges against HC judge

NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha on Tuesday formed a three-member panel to probe charges of corruption against sitting high court judge, justice Yashwant Varma, setting the stage for his impeachment in Parliament.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

Supreme Court judge Arvind Kumar, chief justice of Madras high court Manindra Mohan Shrivastava, and jurist BV Acharya from Karnataka were named as the members of the panel by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, after he accepted the notice for impeachment signed by 146 Lower House lawmakers.

Another impeachment notice signed by 63 Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha and mentioned by former vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar sparked a controversy last month, especially after the latter's abrupt resignation. But Birla made no mention of it, signalling that only the Lok Sabha, without any collaboration with the Upper House, formed the three-member probe panel and establishing the Lower House's primary jurisdiction in the issue.

“The committee will submit its report as early as possible. The proposal (for the removal of justice Varma) will remain pending till the receipt of the report of the inquiry committee,” Birla said.

The impeachment notice was signed by the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, former Union ministers and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members Anurag Thakur, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and PP Chaudhary. Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Supriya Sule and Congress MP KC Venugopal also signed the notice, officials said. Birla said an unblemished character and financial and intellectual integrity were the foundation of the trust a common person has in the judiciary.