Justice Varma to be impeached? All parties on board, says Union minister Kiren Rijiju

New Delhi: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Friday that all political parties are on board on the issue of the impeachment of Justice Yashwant Varma, from whose residence burnt wads of currency notes were found.

"I have spoken to all the senior leaders of different political parties. I will also get in touch with some of the single-MP parties because I do not want to leave out any member. So it becomes a unified stand of the Parliament of India," Rijiju said in an exclusive video interview with PTI.

The minister asserted that it is not the government but members of Parliament cutting across party lines, including from the Congress, who are in favour of moving a motion to remove Justice Varma.

"Corruption in the judiciary is an extremely sensitive and serious matter, because the judiciary is where people get justice. If there is corruption in the judiciary, it is a serious concern for everybody. That is why the motion for the removal of Justice Yashwant Varma is to be signed by all the political parties," he said.

Rijiju said he is happy that the principal opposition party, Congress, has understood the severity of the matter and agreed to be on board on the issue.

"I am happy that they understood the things as they should be because no party can be seen to be standing with a corrupt judge or protecting a corrupt judge," he said.

"When it comes to corruption in the judiciary, we have to stand together. There cannot be any partisan attitude and it should not be made a political issue," Rijiju said.

The Congress has said all its MPs will support the motion against Justice Varma.

Rijiju said a motion for the removal of a judge has to be signed by not less than 100 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 50 in the Rajya Sabha.

The petition has to be submitted to the chair, who will inform the House, constitute an inquiry in accordance with the Judges Inquiry Act and get a report in three months.

"So the three-month-period requirement will have to be fulfilled. And after that the inquiry report will be tabled in Parliament and a discussion held in both Houses," Rijiju said.

A fire incident at Justice Varma's Lutyens' Delhi residence in March, when he was a judge of the Delhi High Court, had led to the discovery of sacks of half-burnt cash in the outhouse.

Justice Varma was subsequently repatriated to the Allahabad High Court but no judicial work was assigned to him. An in-house probe ordered by then chief justice of India Sanjeev Khanna has indicted him.

Though Justice Varma has denied any wrongdoing, the inquiry panel has concluded that the judge and his family members had covert or active control over the storeroom, where the cash was found, proving his misconduct serious enough to seek his removal.

On former law minister Kapil Sibal's remarks drawing a parallel between Justice Varma and Justice Shekhar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court over the latter's "controversial" statement, Rijiju said Parliament cannot be guided by "one lawyer-MP's personal agenda".

Noting that Sibal is a senior person, the minister alleged that he is only driven by his "personal agenda".

"We will not be driven by one lawyer-MP's agenda. We are not here to set an agenda or drive an agenda. We are working purely in the interest of the country," he said.

Rijiju said Sibal does not realise that many MPs have gone far beyond him in terms of understanding, intellectual capability and the knowledge of law.

"He is a very average lawyer.... He cannot guide the Parliament of India. The Parliament of India will be guided by all the members of Parliament," he said.