Overview
- A two-judge bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma rejected Justice Yashwant Varma’s challenge to the Speaker’s admission of a removal motion and the validity of the inquiry panel.
- The court held that rejection of a motion in the Rajya Sabha does not bar the Lok Sabha from proceeding under the Judges (Inquiry) Act.
- Interpreting Section 3(2), the court said a joint committee is required only when both Houses have admitted notices given on the same day and warned against tactics that use defective counter-notices to derail proceedings.
- The bench affirmed the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman’s competence to decide on admission during a vacancy but criticized the secretariat for exceeding an administrative role, noting this irregularity offers no relief in the case.
- The ruling allows the three-member panel—Justice Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava, and senior advocate B. V. Acharya—to proceed with the probe that followed burnt cash being found at Varma’s Delhi residence in March 2025.