Congress slams govt for ‘institutional sabotage’ over Justice Yashwant Varma impeachment motion

New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday accused the government of "institutional sabotage" for refusing to admit the Opposition-backed impeachment motion against Justice Yashwant Varma in the Rajya Sabha, while proceeding with a similar motion in the Lok Sabha signed by both ruling and Opposition MPs.

Senior Congress leader and lawyer Abhishek Singhvi said the Centre had ignored former RS Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar's move to make the Opposition motion "property of the House" before his resignation. He warned that the government's conduct could give Justice Varma procedural grounds to challenge the impeachment.

Rejecting Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju's claim that the RS motion was never admitted, Singhvi asked: "Didn't Chairman Dhankhar, by his words, make the issue property of the House? If not, why did he consult the law minister on introducing similar motions in both Houses?"


Singhvi said instead of appreciating bipartisan cooperation on Justice Varma's impeachment, the ruling party was treating it as "a race to show who did it first," displaying "ego and invincibility notions."

He also linked the episode to Dhankhar's abrupt resignation, questioning if he was forced out and if MPs were pressured to sign additional papers. Singhvi added that the Congress had first raised corruption allegations in the Varma case, while the BJP was silent.

Singhvi further alleged double standards, pointing to the government's inaction on a pending impeachment notice against Justice Shekhar Yadav over hate speech. He said the AICC legal department would hold a conference on August 2 on challenges to the Constitution.