Overview
- The Supreme Court reserved judgment and declined Justice Yashwant Varma’s request for more time, directing him to submit his written response by January 12 and appear before the inquiry committee on January 24.
- Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma flagged a possible procedural infirmity yet questioned the argument that the Speaker was barred from acting after the Rajya Sabha move failed.
- Varma argues Section 3(2) of the Judges (Inquiry) Act required a joint committee since identical notices were filed in both Houses on the same day and contests the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman’s authority to reject the motion.
- Solicitor General Tushar Mehta maintained the Rajya Sabha never admitted the motion—rejected on August 11—so the joint-committee proviso did not apply and the Speaker could proceed to avoid duplicate inquiries.
- Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla formed the three-member panel on August 12 with Justice Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava, and senior advocate B. V. Acharya, following the March 2025 cash discovery at Varma’s residence and a May in-house report finding misconduct.