Cash Row
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla forms probe panel against Justice Yashwant Varma over corruption allegations
New Delhi/IBNS: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday formed a three-member panel to probe into the corruption allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma over the recovery of a huge pile of unaccounted cash from his residence in March this year, media reports said.
The panel comprises Supreme Court judge Justice Aravind Kumar, Madras High Court Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and senior Karnataka counsel BV Acharaha.
Birla said he has also accepted an impeachment motion which has been signed by 146 MPs.
The panel, which is empowered to probe witnesses and seek evidence, will submit its report to the Speaker who will then present it before the Lok Sabha.
If Justice Varma is found guilty, a motion will be passed in the Lok Sabha to impeach him and a similar process will be followed in the Rajya Sabha.
The Supreme Court last week dismissed Justice Varma's plea challenging a three-member top court panel's probe report on the cash recovery.
A three-member panel of senior judges has recommended the initiation of proceedings to impeach former Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma, who was transferred to the Allahabad HC after the cash recovery.
The Supreme Court-appointed panel submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The report has confirmed that "half-burnt currency notes" were seen in Varma's residence when the firefighters were dousing the blaze..
The committee has reported that the storeroom from where the cash was recovered is located in Varma's residence.
The storeroom was accessed only by Varma and his family members.
The committee also took note of the fact that Varma, despite suspecting conspiracy, has neither filed a police complaint nor drawn the Chief Justice of the High Court or the Chief Justice of India's attention towards it.
The panel on the basis of the evidence- physical and digital- held that Justice Varma's misconduct was proven and should face impeachment.
What happened at Justice Varma's house?
A fire at Justice Varma's residential bungalow in March led to the recovery of a huge pile of unaccounted cash, prompting the Supreme Court collegium to transfer from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad HC.
Justice Varma was out of town when a fire broke out at his residence. Justice Varma's family members had called the fire brigade.
But when the firefighters doused the fire, a huge pile of cash was discovered inside a room. Police were called by the firefighters.
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