Judgement Summary: Supreme Court upholds impeachment proceedings against Justice Yashwant Varma
While rejecting Justice Varma's challenge to the Lok Sabha Speaker's decision, the Supreme Court held that rejection of a removal notice in one House does not bar the other from proceeding independently with impeachment inquiry
Paras Nath Singh
16 January 2026
IN A MAJOR SETBACK for Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, the Supreme Court on Friday rejected his petition challenging the decision of the Lok Sabha Speaker to admit a motion for his removal as a High Court judge and to constitute a three-member inquiry committee under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 to investigate allegations against him.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma found no infirmity in the Speaker's decision.
The allegations against Justice Varma relate to the alleged recovery of unaccounted cash by Delhi Fire Service personnel on March 14, 2025, from an outhouse at his official residence during a firefighting operation.
Before the Supreme Court, Justice Varma contended that the Speaker could not have constituted the committee unilaterally because notices for his removal had been given in both Houses of Parliament on the same day.
He relied on the first proviso to Section 3(2) of the Judges (Inquiry) Act, which contemplates a situation where notices are given in both Houses on the same day. In such a case, "no committee shall be constituted unless the motion has been admitted in both Houses; and where such motion has been admitted in both Houses, the committee shall be constituted jointly by the Speaker and the Chairman".
Timeline of events
Justice Datta, in his judgment, noted the following facts:
On July 21, 2025, a notice of motion signed by more than 100 members of the Lok Sabha, seeking to present an address to the President for the removal of Justice Varma, was prepared and received by the Speaker at 12:30 p.m., but it was not admitted on the same day.
Between 4:07 p.m. and 4:19 p.m. on the same day, a notice for the same purpose, signed by more than 50 members, was submitted in the Rajya Sabha. The then Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha noted that a similar notice may have been given in the Lok Sabha and directed that "the Secretary-General will take necessary steps in this direction". Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned on the evening of July 21, 2025.
On August 11, 2025, the notice submitted in the Rajya Sabha was scrutinized by its Secretary-General, who observed various deficiencies and held it to be not "in order". The draft decision of the Secretary-General was placed before the Deputy Chairman, who was discharging the functions of the Chairperson in his absence. The Deputy Chairman concurred and recorded that the notice was "not admitted". This decision was communicated to the Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha on the same day.
On August 12, 2025, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha proceeded to admit the notice given in the Lok Sabha on July 21, 2025.