New Delhi | With nearly all parties backing a notice demanding impeachment of Justice Yashwant Varma, CPI(M) leader John Brittas on Saturday said the notice for impeachment of Justice Shekhar Yadav should also be taken up.
Justice Varma has been in the dock since sacks of half-burnt cash were discovered in the outhouse of his residence in Delhi in March this year, when he was a judge of the Delhi High Court. Justice Varma has denied the allegations, asserting that neither he nor any family member had stored currency in the storeroom.
"We feel that the integrity of the judiciary needs to be maintained, the transparency needs to be maintained," Brittas said. "We are for the impeachment of Justice Varma. We have already expressed our desire to be part of that impeachment process." He added that a notice demanding the impeachment of Justice Yadav is also pending with the Rajya Sabha chairman.
"Nevertheless, there is a notice pending with the Rajya Sabha chairman with regard to (Justice) Shekhar Yadav, all his utterances were against the fundamentals of the Indian constitution. So, I feel that the government will take up both these matters together," Brittas told PTI.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has said he is coordinating with leaders of different parties on the motion for impeachment of Justice Varma, to ensure that a unified stand of the Parliament comes out. He also asserted that it is not the government but members of Parliament cutting across party lines who are in favour of moving a motion to remove Justice Varma.
Last December, Opposition MPs moved an impeachment notice in the Rajya Sabha against Justice Shekhar Yadav for allegedly delivering a hate speech at a gathering last year.
The CPI(M) leader also said it was "unfortunate" that the responsibility to allocate the budget for Manipur had been relegated to the Parliament.
"It's unfortunate that the Parliament has to pass the budget of Manipur. The Parliament has to again extend the President's rule there... and our honourable Prime Minister has time to visit so many nations... but hasn't got the time to visit Manipur or to bring this Manipur issue to the Parliament," he said.
The government is set to seek Parliament's nod for an extension of the President's Rule in Manipur and place the Demand for Grants of the state for the approval of the House in the Monsoon session, scheduled to commence from July 21.
There will be a total of 21 sittings of both Houses till August 21. The session will take a break from August 12 to August 18 for Raksha Bandhan and Independence Day celebrations.
