
Justice Yashwant Varma impeachment: Speaker Om Birla to announce inquiry panel to probe charges, says report
NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker
Om Birla
is expected to announce the formation of a high-level inquiry committee to examine charges against Allahabad high court Judge Yashwant Varma, news agency PTI reported on Thursday quoting official sources.
The move follows the submission of a notice signed by 152 Members of Parliament on July 21, calling for a probe into the grounds for Justice Varma's potential removal. The notice, now deemed the "property of the House," has triggered formal consultations to establish a three-member inquiry panel.
According to the Judges (Inquiry) Act, such a committee must include either the Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court judge, a Chief Justice of a high court, and a distinguished jurist.
Sources confirmed that consultations are already underway, with Speaker Birla expected to write to the Chief Justice of India to recommend two of the committee members. The choice of the jurist, however, will rest solely with the Speaker.
The Rajya Sabha is also involved in the process, as a similar notice signed by 63 opposition MPs was submitted to the Upper House on the same day. Consequently, coordination between both Houses has become crucial to the next steps.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Canada is Open for Professionals Seeking Relocation
PR Canadiense
Sign Up
Undo
Since the submission of the notices, senior leaders including home minister Amit Shah, Rajya Sabha leader of the house JP Nadda, Speaker Birla, and deputy Chairman Harivansh, who is currently presiding over the Upper House following Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar's resignation, have been in intense deliberations over the path ahead.
Dhankhar, who had invoked the Judges (Inquiry) Act in the Rajya Sabha on Monday to clarify procedure, later resigned in a surprise move, citing health concerns.
However, political observers believe his resignation followed discontent within the government over his decision to acknowledge the opposition-backed notice despite a bipartisan one already before the Lok Sabha.
With Harivansh now temporarily in charge, the fate of the Rajya Sabha notice remains uncertain. 'We have not been told anything so far,' said an opposition MP who signed the notice.
As per the Act, the three-member committee will examine the grounds for seeking the judge's removal and determine whether the charges warrant further action.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Print
13 minutes ago
- The Print
Timely justice to defence personnel, weaker sections of society must to improve their lives: J-K LG
Calling for ensuring timely justice, the LG said delay in delivering justice defeats its purpose. Sinha addressed a two-day north zone regional conference on reaffirming the constitutional vision of justice for defence personnel and tribals at SKICC. Srinagar, Jul 26 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Saturday said timely justice should be ensured to defence personnel, tribals and weaker sections of the society to improve their lives and to protect their Constitutional rights. 'Jammu and Kashmir and all state legal services authorities should ensure that defence personnel, tribals and weaker sections of the society should get timely justice so that their lives improve and to protect their constitutional rights,' the LG said 'Justice should not be delayed, because delay in justice results in defeat of faith. I hope this important conference would discuss the interventions needed to make the common people aware about their constitutional rights,' he said. Constitution of India guarantees justice — social, economic and political, and one of the facets of providing justice is access to justice to all the citizens and it is to be ensured that justice reaches to the poorest of poor, who deserves it the most, he added. 'The justice system has been deeply rooted in the soul of India and played a pivotal to nation's progress. In our culture, the court is not merely an office of justice but a sacred temple of justice, dedicated to ensuring equal justice and access to the legal system for all, without discrimination,' the LG said. Sinha said his administration has taken three major initiatives in J-K to ensure ease of justice to the members of the armed forces and is committed to provide legal aid to the tribal community. He referred to the establishment of the Lieutenant Governor's Sainik Sahayta Kendra (LGSSK), a dedicated grievance redressal mechanism for personnel of the Indian Armed Forces and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). The initiative aims to address civilian grievances of soldiers either posted in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir or hailing from the region but serving elsewhere in India. The LGSSK is designed as a single-window Soldiers' Assistance and Liaison Cell, operating from the Civil Secretariat offices in both Jammu and Srinagar. This institutional platform will streamline the process of receiving, assessing, and resolving grievances, ensuring timely and effective support for serving soldiers. Sinha highlighted key structural reforms taken in the past few years to establish social and economic justice in Jammu Kashmir. Before 2019, he said, various Central laws including two important central legislations namely the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 were not applicable to J-K. Now, these laws have become applicable and tribal community has been empowered. We are extending all constitutional guarantees and protections to the members of the tribal population including access to justice by providing free and competent legal aid to them, Sinha said. He spoke about the major initiatives taken by the J-K administration to ensure ease of justice to the members of the armed forces and reiterated its commitment to provide legal aid to the tribal community. 'Amendment has been made in J&K Legal Services Authority, Rules 2020 to include Secretary, Zila Sainik Board as member of District Legal Services Authority to provide legal aid to soldiers,' he said. On the occasion, NALSA Veer Parivar Sahayata Yojana 2025, a dedicated legal services scheme for defence personnel, ex-servicemen and their families, was launched. The scheme provides for establishing legal services clinics within Rajya and Zila Sainik Boards for rendering legal services and assistance to Veer Parivar. The event also witnessed the launch of various initiatives including Defence Personnel Case Management System; Special Samvad Legal Units for tribal communities; Legal Services support centres at Rajya Sainik Boards of all states and UTs and Zila Sainik Welfare Boards across the Districts of UT of J&K and Ladakh; Unveiling of Logo and Tribal kiosks at Leh airport; Mobile medical camp for tribal population of Ladakh. PTI SSB NB NB This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.


The Print
13 minutes ago
- The Print
Two CPI (Maoist) operatives chargesheeted for involvement in Chhattisgarh Assembly poll blast case
With this, 12 accused have been chargesheeted in the case. Ten others were chargesheeted earlier in December 2024 in the case. Dhanesh Ram Dhruw and Ramswrup Markam have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the supplementary chargesheet filed before a court in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, they said. New Delhi, Jul 26 (PTI) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday chargesheeted two Maoist operatives for their involvement in November 2023 Chhattisgarh Assembly poll blast case, officials said. During the Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh in November 2023, an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion killed an ITBP head constable, a statement issued by the NIA said. The blast followed a poll boycott call by proscribed terror outfit CPI (Maoist) in Badegobra village of district Gariyaband. The explosion took place when a polling team accompanied by security personnel was returning from Badegobra village after the completion of the voting process, it said. Dhruv was a headmaster in a government primary school and Markam was sarpanch of Chhotegobra panchayat in Gariyaband district that has a sizeable presence of Naxals, the statement said. Both were allegedly involved in providing logistics and financial support to members of CPI (Maoist) for carrying out the attack, according to the NIA investigation. Dhruv had allegedly actively assisted CPI (Maoist) cadres in making posters and banners for boycotting the assembly elections, among other things, the probe agency said. Markam had allegedly arranged incriminating materials, such as wires, switches, and firecrackers, for the Naxals before carrying out the IED blast, it added. NIA, which took over the probe in February 2024, said that it found the attack to have been planned by CPI (Maoist) Central Committee members Ganesh Uikey and Manoj, and Special Zonal Committee Member Satyam Gawade. It was allegedly carried out by cadres of the outfit's Gobra Dalam with the support of over ground workers (OGWs) from Badegobra-Chhotegobra village, the NIA said. PTI AKV SKY SKY This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.


Time of India
17 minutes ago
- Time of India
Rahul Gandhi empowers new Gujarat Congress chiefs, links ticket selection to performance
Ahmedabad: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Saturday met the newly appointed district and city Congress chiefs at a three-day training session in Anand, Gujarat. The session is part of a pilot project Gandhi launched to revive the party in Gujarat after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, where he vowed to wrest power from the BJP in the next Assembly election. The new district and city chiefs were appointed through an "extensive consultative process" under this initiative. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Cybersecurity Digital Marketing Design Thinking MBA Data Analytics Product Management MCA others Data Science CXO Operations Management Degree Public Policy PGDM Finance Artificial Intelligence Data Science Technology Management healthcare Leadership Project Management Healthcare Others Skills you'll gain: Duration: 10 Months MIT xPRO CERT-MIT xPRO PGC in Cybersecurity Starts on undefined Get Details Party sources told ET that Gandhi made it clear the district and city presidents will now play a decisive role in ticket distribution , with final candidate approvals requiring their consent alongside the state Congress leadership . by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo He added that their work will be evaluated monthly, and underperformers will be replaced. The Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan ( Organization Building Campaign ) will remain central to election preparations, Gandhi said.