Union Minister Kiren Rijiju makes BIG statement on Justice Yashwant Varma, says, 'All parties on board...'

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Friday said that all political parties are on board on the issue of the impeachment of Justice Yashwant Varma, from whose residence burnt wads of currency notes were found. "I have spoken to all the senior leaders of different political parties. I will also get in touch with some of the single-MP parties because I do not want to leave out any member. So it becomes a unified stand of the Parliament of India," Rijiju said in an exclusive video interview with news agency PTI.

'Corruption in judiciary extremely serious'
The minister asserted that it is not the government but members of Parliament cutting across party lines, including from the Congress, who are in favour of moving a motion to remove Justice Varma. "Corruption in the judiciary is an extremely sensitive and serious matter, because the judiciary is where people get justice. If there is corruption in the judiciary, it is a serious concern for everybody. That is why the motion for the removal of Justice Yashwant Varma is to be signed by all the political parties," he said. Rijiju said he is happy that the principal opposition party, Congress, has understood the severity of the matter and agreed to be on board on the issue. "I am happy that they understood the things as they should be because no party can be seen to be standing with a corrupt judge or protecting a corrupt judge," he said.

Motion to be signed by MPs
"When it comes to corruption in the judiciary, we have to stand together. There cannot be any partisan attitude and it should not be made a political issue," Rijiju said. The Congress has said all its MPs will support the motion against Justice Varma. Rijiju said a motion for the removal of a judge has to be signed by not less than 100 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 50 in the Rajya Sabha. The petition has to be submitted to the chair, who will inform the House, constitute an inquiry in accordance with the Judges Inquiry Act and get a report in three months. "So the three-month-period requirement will have to be fulfilled. And after that the inquiry report will be tabled in Parliament and a discussion held in both Houses," Rijiju said.

Fire incident exposed Justice Varma
A fire incident at Justice Varma's Lutyens' Delhi residence in March, when he was a judge of the Delhi High Court, had led to the discovery of sacks of half-burnt cash in the outhouse. Justice Varma was subsequently repatriated to the Allahabad High Court but no judicial work was assigned to him. An in-house probe ordered by then Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjeev Khanna has indicted him. Though Justice Varma has denied any wrongdoing, the inquiry panel has concluded that the judge and his family members had covert or active control over the storeroom, where the cash was found, proving his misconduct serious enough to seek his removal.

(With inputs from news agency PTI).