In a historic and unprecedented move, a total of 145 Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Lok Sabha and 63 from the Rajya Sabha have submitted a petition seeking the impeachment of Justice Yashwant Varma, a sitting High Court judge, in connection with a controversial cash seizure from his residence.
This marks the first time in Indian parliamentary history that over 200 MPs have come together across party lines to initiate the removal of a judge, a rare and constitutionally significant event.
Under Article 124(4) of the Indian Constitution, a judge of the Supreme Court (and by extension, through Article 217 read with Article 218, a High Court judge) can be removed only on grounds of proved misbehaviour or incapacity. The process begins when at least: 100 Lok Sabha MPs, or 50 Rajya Sabha MPs sign a motion for removal. This motion is then submitted to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, who decides whether or not to admit the motion. If admitted, a three-member inquiry committee is formed to investigate the charges.
Although the Constitution outlines this impeachment mechanism, no judge has ever been successfully removed from office in Indian history, despite a few attempts. Notably:
In 1993, a motion was moved against Justice V. Ramaswami, but it failed in the Lok Sabha due to a lack of majority support.
In 2010, Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court resigned before the Rajya Sabha vote could be followed up in the Lok Sabha.
In 2018, an attempt was made to impeach Chief Justice Dipak Misra, but the Vice President rejected it at the preliminary stage.
The Current Case: Justice Yashwant Varma
The impeachment notice against Justice Varma comes after a large quantity of burnt currency bundles was discovered in a store room, reportedly under his family’s control. Justice Varma has denied any wrongdoing. However, a Supreme Court-appointed in-house inquiry panel reportedly found sufficient grounds to confirm that the judge and his family had active control over the premises, amounting to serious judicial misconduct.
The motion has been signed by several prominent MPs, including Anurag Thakur, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Rahul Gandhi, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, PP Chaudhary, Supriya Sule, and KC Venugopal. Congress MP K Suresh confirmed that the party fully supports the motion, with the INDIA bloc parties also aligning with the move.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju earlier stated that “all political parties are on board” for seeking Justice Varma’s removal, further underlining the cross-party consensus on this extraordinary step.
The impeachment motion will now be reviewed by the Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman, who will decide whether to admit the motion. If admitted, a judicial inquiry will begin, and if the findings support the charges, both Houses of Parliament must pass the motion by a two-thirds majority for the judge to be officially removed by the President.
This case could potentially become the first successful judicial impeachment in India, setting a precedent for judicial accountability while also testing the strength and impartiality of constitutional processes.
