Lok Sabha Speaker accepts notice for removal of Justice Verma, three-member committee formed

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday accepted the notice of removal of High Court judge Justice Yashwant Verma and constituted a three-member committee to investigate the allegations against him. Announcing this in the Lok Sabha, Om Birla said that the process of removal of Justice Verma should begin as the allegations against him are of serious nature.

The Lok Sabha Speaker constituted a three-member committee comprising Supreme Court judge Justice Arvind Kumar, Madras High Court Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Karnataka High Court senior advocate BV Acharya. Birla said, “The committee will submit its report as soon as possible. The proposal (to remove Justice Verma) will remain pending till the report of the investigation committee is received.”

MPs signed impeachment notices

Recently, at least 149 MPs of Lok Sabha and 63 MPs of Rajya Sabha signed two separate impeachment notices against Justice Yashwant Verma, thereby starting the process of removal of the judge. Justice Verma has been accused of corruption after cash was recovered from his house in Delhi.

How many MPs’ signatures are required?

It is worth noting that a proposal to remove any serving judge requires the signatures of 100 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 50 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. For the proposal to be passed, it has to get the support of a majority of the total members of the House, at least two-thirds of the members present and voting in the House.

The matter came to light due to fire at the official residence

Let us tell you that on March 14, at around 11:35 pm, a fire allegedly broke out at the official residence of Justice Verma located at Tughlaq Road. After this incident, a large amount of cash was allegedly recovered from his official residence. Later, Justice Verma was transferred to the Allahabad High Court.