Supreme Court Clears Way for Impeachment Probe Against Justice Yashwant Varma
The Supreme Court of India has dismissed a petition filed by Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, challenging the impeachment process initiated against him.
The decision was delivered by a Bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, which had earlier reserved its verdict on January 8.
The case arises from a fire incident at Justice Varma’s residence in March 2025, during which firefighters reportedly recovered unaccounted cash. This incident led to allegations of corruption. Although Justice Varma denied the charges, he was transferred from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court and was relieved of judicial duties pending further action.
Following an in-house inquiry, the then Chief Justice of India asked Justice Varma to either resign or face impeachment proceedings. After he refused to step down, Members of Parliament moved an impeachment motion in the Lok Sabha.
In August 2025, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla admitted the motion and set up a three-member inquiry committee under the Judges (Inquiry) Act to investigate the allegations.
Justice Varma challenged this move before the Supreme Court, arguing that the Speaker acted improperly by forming the committee without consulting the Rajya Sabha Chairman, even though impeachment notices were submitted in both Houses. His counsel claimed that the law requires joint consultation before such a committee can be constituted.
However, the Lok Sabha Secretariat argued that the Rajya Sabha did not admit the impeachment motion. The motion was rejected by the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman after the resignation of then Vice President and Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar. As a result, the proviso requiring joint consultation did not apply.
Accepting this argument, the Supreme Court held that the Lok Sabha Speaker was legally entitled to proceed independently. The Court also observed during hearings that there was no legal bar preventing impeachment proceedings from continuing merely because the Rajya Sabha did not admit the motion.
With this ruling, the inquiry committee constituted by the Lok Sabha Speaker will continue its probe into the allegations against Justice Varma.
