Supreme Court delivers major setback to Justice Yashwant Varma, plea to stop parliamentary probe in burnt cash case dismissed

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The Supreme Court has delivered a significant blow to Allahabad High Court Judge Justice Yashwant Varma. On Friday, the apex court outright rejected his petition challenging the legality of the parliamentary inquiry committee probing allegations against him. Justice Varma is facing serious corruption charges linked to the alleged recovery of partially burnt cash, which is being investigated by a parliamentary panel constituted by the Lok Sabha Speaker. With this ruling, the path has been cleared for the inquiry to proceed without obstruction.

Justice Varma had questioned the validity of the committee formed by the Lok Sabha Speaker to examine the allegations. In his petition, he argued that the inquiry was unconstitutional because the impeachment motion against him had earlier been rejected by the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. According to him, once the proposal failed in one House of Parliament, setting up a fresh committee to investigate the same matter violated established procedures. He had sought a stay on both the committee and its ongoing proceedings.

The Supreme Court, however, refused to accept these arguments. The court made it clear that there was no justification for judicial interference in the parliamentary inquiry process. The case has attracted wide attention in legal circles due to the serious nature of the corruption allegations involving allegedly recovered burnt currency. Following the dismissal of the petition, the parliamentary panel will now continue its detailed investigation and submit its findings as scheduled.