Justice Varma challenges legality of move

The SC on Tuesday issued notice to the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Secretariats of both Houses of Parliament in a plea filed by Allahabad High Court Justice Yashwant Varma challenging the legality of the Parliamentary Committee constituted against him under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968.

- FPJ News Service

Justice Varma has moved the apex court seeking to quash the decision of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to constitute a three-member committee for investigating the discovery of unaccounted cash at his official residence during a fire on March 14. The judge has argued that the Speaker acted unilaterally without awaiting the admission of the impeachment motion by the Rajya Sabha Chairman or holding the mandatory joint consultation prescribed by law, Live Law and Bar & Bench reports.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Justice Varma, submitted before a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and AG Masih: "Where the notices of the motion are 'given' to the Houses on the same date, that is the case here, no Committee will be constituted, this is peremptory, mylords, unless the motion is being admitted in both Houses.