Govt working to form committee to probe allegations against Justice Verma: Sources
Amid the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament, government sources also said that the government was not yet mulling any discussion in Parliament on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise being carried out by the Election Commission in Bihar.
This comes after Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Sunday that signatures of over 100 MPs have been collected for the impeachment process against Justice Verma, who is currently under scrutiny after burnt cash was discovered at his residence.
"The signature (collection) is underway, and it has crossed 100 already," Rijiju said while responding to a question about the status of the requisite signatures of MPs for the impeachment exercise against Justice Verma.
When asked about whether the Parliament will take up the issue in this monsoon session scheduled to start on July 21, the Union Minister said, "In the Justice Varma case, the process will be undertaken together by all parties. This is not the move by the government alone. "I can't comment on any business in terms of priority until and unless the matter is passed by the BAC (Business Advisory Committee) with the approval of the chair. It is difficult to make an announcement outside," he added.
On Monday, Members of Parliament submitted a memorandum to the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to remove High Court Justice Yashwant Varma in connection with the cash discovery row.
A total of 145 Lok Sabha members signed the impeachment motion against Justice Varma under Articles 124, 217, and 218 of the Constitution.
MPs from various parties, including Congress, TDP, JDU, JDS, Jan Sena Party, AGP, SS (Shinde), LJSP, SKP, CPM, etc., signed the memorandum.
Notable signatories include MPs Anurag Singh Thakur, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, PP Chaudhary, Supriya Sule, KC Venugopal, and others.
Earlier, the sources had informed about the formation of a committee that is likely to include a judge of the Supreme Court, a chief justice from any of the High Courts and a distinguished jurist.
The notices for removal of Justice Varma were given on the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament.
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