SC steps in on Justice Varma row

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issues notice to Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the impeachment of Justice Yashwant Varma, citing procedural lapses,. The court’s notice stems after Allahabad High Court Justice Yashwant Varma sought to quash the Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision to constitute a three-member committee against him under the Judges (Inquiry) Act for his impeachment.

The bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice AG Masih issued a notice to the Speaker as well as the Secretariats of the upper and the lower houses of the Parliament. Varma has challenged Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision on procedural grounds, arguing that although the notices for his impeachment was given in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla constituted the committee unilaterally without awaiting admission of the motion by the Rajya Sabha Chairman and the joint consultation with the Chairman as contemplated in that statute. The Court asked how the legal experts in the Parliament had allowed it to happen.

“The Hon’ble Speaker has acted in clear derogation of the proviso to Section 3(2) of the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, by unilaterally constituting a Committee on 12.08.2025 after admitting a motion given before the Lok Sabha on 21.07.2025, as on the very same day a separate motion was given in the Rajya Sabha which had not been admitted,” the plea said.