India Supreme Court Rejects Justice Varma’s Impeachment Challenge

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea filed by Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma seeking to quash the Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision to constitute a three-member inquiry committee to examine allegations against him under the Judges (Inquiry) Act.

A Bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma delivered the ruling, after having reserved its verdict on January 8.

The impeachment proceedings stem from an incident on March 14, 2025, when a fire at Justice Varma’s official residence reportedly led firefighters to recover unaccounted cash, triggering allegations of corruption. Justice Varma has denied the charges.

Following the incident, he was transferred from the Delhi High Court to his parent Allahabad High Court and relieved of judicial work pending further action. An in-house inquiry was initiated by then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, who later asked Justice Varma to resign or face impeachment. Justice Varma declined to step down.

In August, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla admitted a motion moved by Members of Parliament to impeach Justice Varma and constituted a three-member committee to investigate the allegations.

Justice Varma challenged the Speaker’s decision before the Supreme Court on procedural grounds, arguing that impeachment notices had been submitted in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. He contended that under a proviso to Section 3 of the Judges (Inquiry) Act, the Speaker could not unilaterally constitute a probe committee without prior consultation with the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

Opposing the plea, the Lok Sabha Secretary General argued that the Rajya Sabha had not admitted the impeachment motion. He submitted that the motion was rejected by the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman on August 11, 2025, following the resignation of then Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar a month earlier. As a result, the proviso cited by Justice Varma did not apply, and the Speaker was entitled to proceed independently.

During the hearings, the Supreme Court had questioned whether any law barred the Lok Sabha Speaker from continuing impeachment proceedings merely because a similar motion was not admitted in the Rajya Sabha. The Bench had also expressed prima facie disagreement with the view that such rejection would automatically derail the impeachment process.

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