Judge cash recovery row: Over 200 MPs seek removal of Justice Yashwant Varma; parties unite on impeachment | India News

NEW DELHI: On the first day of Parliament’s Monsoon Session, over 200 MPs submitted a draft notice to start the impeachment process against Justice Yashwant Varma. This includes 63 opposition MPs in Rajya Sabha.A similar memorandum was also given to the Lok Sabha Speaker, with 145 MPs signing it.The demand to remove Justice Varma is based on Articles 124, 217, and 218 of the Constitution. The move follows the discovery of large amounts of burnt cash at his residence in March.MPs from many parties — including Congress, TDP, JDU, JDS, Jan Sena, AGP, Shiv Sena (Shinde), LJSP, SKP, CPM – have signed the motion. Some notable names among the signatories are Rahul Gandhi, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Anurag Thakur, Supriya Sule, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, KC Venugopal, and PP Chaudhary.On Sunday, Union minister Kiren Rijiju said that over 100 MPs had already signed the impeachment proposal. He confirmed that more signatures were being added.Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court declined to urgently list a petition seeking an FIR against Justice Varma.The controversy began when burnt bundles of currency were found in the outhouse of Justice Varma’s Delhi residence after a fire broke out in March. A committee of three judges, appointed by then-CJI Sanjeev Khanna, found him guilty and recommended his removal. Justice Varma was later sent back to the Allahabad high court and taken off all judicial duties.He has denied any wrongdoing and has challenged the committee’s report in the Supreme Court.