SC notice to Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha secretariats on Justice Yashwant Varma's impeachment plea

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to office of Lok Sabha Speaker and Secretariats of both Houses of Parliament on a plea filed by Allahabad HC Justice Yashwant Varma seeking quashing of Lower House Speaker's decision to constitute a three-member committee against him under the Judges (Inquiry) Act for his impeachment.

Varma has challenged Lok Sabha Speaker's decision on procedural grounds, contending that although the notices for his impeachment were given in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Speaker Om Birla constituted the committee "unilaterally" without awaiting admission of the motion by Rajya Sabha chairman and joint consultation with the chairman as contemplated in that statute.

In his plea, Varma has argued that the Speaker has acted in "clear derogation" of the relevant provisions of the Judges (Inquiry) Act. A division bench comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Justice AG Masih verbally asked how the legal experts in Parliament allowed this to happen. "So many MPs and legal experts but no one pointed this out?" Justice Datta orally remarked.