Overview
- Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma dismissed Justice Yashwant Varma’s petition, finding no illegality in the Speaker’s decision to set up the inquiry under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968.
- The court rejected arguments that a joint committee was mandatory because motions were moved in both Houses and affirmed the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman’s authority to decline admission of the Upper House motion.
- The decision clears the way for the Lok Sabha-appointed panel of Justice Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Srivastava, and senior advocate B V Acharya to proceed.
- Varma submitted a written response on January 12 denying any cash recovery and is scheduled to appear before the committee on January 24.
- The case stems from a March 2025 fire at 30 Tughlaq Crescent, after which an in-house Supreme Court panel found substance in allegations of cash at the premises and the then CJI recommended action.