Can judges avoid impeachment by resigning? The Justice Yashwant Varma case explained
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500+ questions on Polity with explanations
📌 Summary:
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Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla decided to table the parliamentary investigative committee's report against former Allahabad HC judge Yashwant Varma — uncharted territory, since it challenges the assumption that a judge's resignation extinguishes an impeachment probe
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Background: burnt currency notes were recovered from Justice Varma's official Delhi residence → SC in-house inquiry reportedly found him culpable → 146+ Lok Sabha MPs moved a removal motion → Speaker constituted a 3-member investigative committee under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 → Varma resigned to the President before hearings concluded
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Constitutional position: under Article 217 a HC judge resigns by writing to the President; a 1978 SC ruling held resignation is a unilateral act effective immediately, needing no acceptance
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Precedents: no judge has ever been impeached in India; probes against Justice P D Dinakaran and Justice Soumitra Sen (2011) were dropped after resignation — Rajya Sabha secretariat reasoned removal being moot made the probe infructuous
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Counter-argument: the law nowhere says an inquiry lapses on resignation; scholars (Shubhankar Dam) warn resignation has become the easiest escape from accountability while retaining post-retirement benefits; jurist G Mohan Gopal (2011) distinguished 'investigation and proof' of misbehaviour from 'removal' — establishing truth is an end in itself, else judges get a de facto veto over accountability
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Significance of tabling: creates a formal parliamentary and public record of judicial misconduct findings
🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 Judiciary — judicial accountability, impeachment procedure, Judges (Inquiry) Act 1968, Article 217/218, separation of powers
📝 Prelims Facts:
- Removal procedure: Articles 124(4)/217-218, Judges (Inquiry) Act 1968; motion needs 100 LS/50 RS MPs
- No judge has ever been impeached in India
- 1978 SC ruling: judge's resignation is unilateral and immediate
🔑 Key Term: Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 — statute governing investigation of 'proved misbehaviour or incapacity' of SC/HC judges via a 3-member committee before Parliament votes on removal
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