Law Minister Says Parliament Has Constitutional Authority To Remove SC Judge

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said on Friday that while Parliament holds the constitutional authority to remove a Supreme Court or High Court judge, the process of initiating such a motion lies in the hands of Members of Parliament and the government has nothing to do about it.

In an interview to PTI, Meghwal pointed out that the in-house committee set up by then chief justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna to look into the allegations against Justice Varma, arising from a cash-discovery row, has already submitted its report. If Justice Varma does not agree with the report and approaches the Supreme Court or a high court, it is his prerogative, the minister said.

He said Parliament has the right to remove a Supreme Court or high court judge. The support of at least 100 members in the Lok Sabha and 50 in the Rajya Sabha is needed to pass a motion for the impeachment of a judge. Meghwal said this is entirely a matter of the MPs, some efforts have been made by them and the government is not in the picture.

Meanwhile, Justice Varma has moved the Supreme Court, seeking to invalidate the report of the in-house inquiry panel, which has found him guilty of misconduct in the cash-discovery row. Varma has sought the quashing of the May 8 recommendation by then CJI Khanna to remove him from his position.

The government is pushing for a motion to remove Justice Varma on the first day of Parliament's Monsoon session that is scheduled to start from July 21. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has said the MPs of his party will also sign the motion.

The 25-page inquiry report of Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya, uploaded on the Supreme Court's website, contains two short notes in Hindi that mention that after a fire at the storeroom of Justice Varma's Lutyens' Delhi residence on March 14 was doused, four to five half-burnt sacks containing currency notes were found. The report said prima facie, it seemed that a short-circuit had led to the fire.

Justice Varma, who was a judge of the Delhi High Court then, had, in his response, strongly denounced the allegations and said no cash was ever placed in the storeroom either by him or any of his family members. He has since been transferred to the Allahabad High Court but no judicial work has been assigned to him.