"Impeachment Not One Party's Agenda": Kiren Rijiju On Judge In Cash Row

The planned impeachment motion against high court judge Justice Yashwant Varma in the cash-at-home matter is linked to corruption in the judiciary, and is not the agenda of one political party, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said today, explaining why all political parties should jointly move the motion.

The Supreme Court had formed an inquiry committee following allegations of "burnt cash" found at a storeroom of Justice Varma's house when he was a judge of the Delhi High Court.

"With regards to the impeachment motion against the high court judge [Justice] Yashwant Verma, I have initiated discussion with political parties. Most of the major political parties have already been told and we have sought a collaborative effort where all the political parties should come together and jointly move the motion," Mr Rijiju said today.

"The government feels that the matter is related to corruption, and this is a matter related to corruption of a high court sitting judge, so this is not one party's political agenda. It is the stand of every political party to fight against the menace of corruption, whether it is a judicial or any other space," the parliamentary affairs minister said.

"So the government would like to take all political parties on board and then initiate the impeachment motion. I will reach out to some remaining smaller parties also so that everybody is on board on this important matter," he added.

The in-house inquiry committee submitted its report on the issue last month, which has since been forwarded to the Prime Minister and the President.

On May 4, a panel of judges tasked with conducting an internal inquiry into allegations of cash being discovered at Justice Varma's house submitted its report to the then Chief Justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna.

According to an official communication from the Supreme Court, the three-member committee comprising Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana; Justice GS Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, and Justice Anu Sivaraman, judge of the High Court of Karnataka, concluded its investigation and presented its findings in a report dated May 3.

Justice Varma was sworn in as a judge of the Allahabad High Court under unusual and contentious circumstances on April 5.

The monsoon session of parliament will begin on July 21 and run till August 12. It will also be the first parliament session following Operation Sindoor.

The Opposition leaders have been seeking a special session of parliament upon the arrival of the all-party delegations sent to other nations to present India's views on Pakistan's state-sponsored terrorism.