Rajya Sabha didn’t admit motion to remove justice varma, Lok Sabha speaker’s office tells SC

THe question to transfer Allahabad heights margaret court try, justice Yashwant Varma, was never admitted in the Rajya Sabha on account of being “defective”, the Lok Sabha Speaker’s office told the Supreme Court, marking a fresh twist in the controversy regarding the judge’s removal following discovery of wads of currency notes at his official residence in Delhi last year.The top court is examining the plea of justice Varma finding fault with the Speaker’s decision to unilaterally proceed with the inquiry when a similar motion was presented in the Rajya Sabha. On December 16, the court had sought response of the two Houses of Parliament being prima facie satisfied about the ground of challenge raised in the petition.The response filed by the Speaker’s office said that soon after the motion was presented in the Rajya Sabha, a communication was sent to the Lok Sabha claiming that the same was “defective” and was never admitted in the first place. Acting on this information, the LS Speaker admitted the motion on August 11 and proceeded under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 by constituting an inquiry committee headed by Supreme Court judge, justice Aravind Kumar.“At the time when Chairman, Rajya Sabha, informed the House about the motion having been received, neither any scrutiny of motion was done nor any decision about admission of motion by Chairman was taken. No decision to admit the motion was taken by Rajya Sabha Chairman nor any order of admission is passed by him either while intimating the House or thereafter,” stated the response filed by Lok Sabha secretary general Utpal Kumar Singh.Following the abrupt resignation of RS Chairman (then vice president Jagdeep Dhankar) on July 21, the RS secretary general presented the motion moved by 62 members for removal of justice Varma before the Deputy Chairman along with a report stating that the same has been found “defective in many scores”.The Deputy Chairman, going by the secretary general’s note decided “not to admit” the motion on August 11 and this fact was communicated to the Lok Sabha secretary general the same day. The following day, LS Speaker passed an order on August 12 admitting the motion presented by 146 members of the Lok Sabha.The latest disclosure by the LS secretary general will be considered by a bench of justices Dipankar Datta and SC Sharma on Wednesday.Justice Varma, in his petition filed last month submitted that the provision to section 3(2) of the 1968 Act requires that when a motion for removal of a judge is moved simultaneously before both the Houses of Parliament, no committee can be constituted till the motion is admitted in both Houses. Further, it provides that once the motion is admitted by both Houses, the inquiry committee should be jointly constituted by the Speaker and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.The response by LS secretary general said that the petition is based on a “misconception” that mere presentation of a motion in either or both Houses of Parliament amounts to admission. The secretary general stated that after presentation, it is scrutinised and only when the Speaker or Chairman is satisfied, the motion is admitted, both being independent and separate actions.Since only one motion came to be admitted, the proviso to section 3(2) will not operate, the response from LS said. The secretary general urged the court not to interfere with the ongoing removal proceedings against justice Varma citing the bar under Article 122 of the Constitution that bars validity of any proceeding in Parliament to be called in question on grounds of any procedural irregularity.The court while issuing notice on justice Varma’s petition last month had observed, “Our Parliament has several legal experts. Then how does this happen? Did the members of Parliament not notice that this cannot be done.”The committee constituted by the LS Speaker comprises Supreme Court’s justice Aravind Kumar, chief justice Manindra Mohan Srivastava of the Madras high court, and senior advocate BV Acharya. This committee has already issued notice to justice Varma and asked him to submit his statement in defence of the charges by January 12, 2026 and to physically appear on January 24.