Justice Varma’s Removal Looms as Resignation Emerges as Only Option

Quick Summary:

• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has announced a committee to investigate corruption charges against Justice Yashwant Varma of the Allahabad High Court.
• The inquiry committee includes supreme Court judge Aravind Kumar, Madras High Court Chief Justice manindra Mohan Shrivastava, and senior Karnataka High Court advocate B.V. Acharya.
• The proposal for removal was submitted by 146 Lok Sabha members on July 21, including BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad and Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi.
• If removed by Parliament, the judge loses pension and other retirement benefits; resignation preserves these entitlements.
• Article 217 of the Constitution allows judges to resign through a written letter addressed to the President independently of parliamentary approval; resignations can also be withdrawn if made with a prospective date of stepping down.
• Justice Yashwant Varma was reportedly urged to resign earlier by former Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna after an in-house panel investigation into a cash discovery incident at his Delhi residence in March exposed alleged misconduct.
• Burnt sacks filled with cash were incidentally found at Justice Varma’s outhouse following a fire earlier this year; he claims ignorance about the matter but has been indicted after witness testimonies were recorded by another Supreme Court-appointed panel investigating the case.
• This marks india’s first impeachment case being processed in its new Parliament building, though historically judges like V.Ramaswami (Supreme Court) or S.Sen from Calcutta HC scenarios self-resigned clearing processes avoiding full Recommendations parliamentary Prosecution..

Indian Opinion analysis:
The unfolding situation around Justice Yashwant Varma is notable both procedurally and symbolically for India’s judiciary and governance mechanisms tasked with ensuring accountability among its highest office holders..######