145 MPs across party lines submit motion in Parliament to impeach Justice Yashwant Varma

A notice for the removal of a judge has to be signed by not less than 100 members in the Lok Sabha and 50 in the Rajya Sabha, as per the Judges Inquiry Act, 1968.

Once the MPs submit the motion, the presiding officer of the House can either accept or reject it. If accepted, a three-member committee, comprising two judges and a jurist, will be constituted to probe the complaint and determine if it is a case fit for initiating the process of impeachment.

Dhankhar said that he had received a notice of motion under Article 217 (1B) and Article 124, sub-article 4 of the Constitution, along with section 31B of Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, to constitute a committee for removal of Justice Varma. “It has been signed by more than 50 members of the Council of States, and thus it meets the numerical requirement of signing by members of Parliament for setting in motion the process for removal of a high court judge,” he said.

Dhankhar read out the specific provisions from the Judges Inquiry Act if a similar motion is presented in both Houses of Parliament on the same day. After Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal confirmed that over 100 members had submitted a motion in Lok Sabha, Dhankhar said that the relevant sections of (Judges Inquiry Act) will come into effect and the Secretary General will take necessary steps in this direction.

Under the Judges Inquiry Act if notices of motion are submitted for the removal of a judge on the same day in both Houses of Parliament, no committee shall be constituted unless the motion has been admitted in both Houses.