Two lawyers to assist panel probing corruption charges on Justice Varma

New Delhi: Two lawyers will assist the committee probing corruption allegations against Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Varma.

Rohan Singh and Sameeksha Dua have been appointed as consultants to assist the three-member committee constituted to investigate the grounds for the removal of Justice Varma.

Last month, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla admitted a multi-party notice for impeachment of Justice Varma, at whose official residence burnt wads of currency notes were found on March 14.

The Lok Sabha Speaker had constituted a committee comprising Supreme Court judge Aravind Kumar, Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava, Chief Justice of Madras High Court and B V Acharya, senior advocate of Karnataka High Court, to investigate allegations against Justice Varma.

The said appointments of the two lawyers were notified on September 19 and will be co-terminus with the tenure of the committee or until further orders.

Justice Varma was repatriated from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court after burnt wads of currency notes were found at his official residence here on March 14.

A Supreme Court-appointed inquiry panel, headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, investigated the incident.

Its report concluded that Justice Varma and his family had covert or active control over the store room where the cash was found, establishing misconduct serious enough to warrant his removal.

The then Chief Justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna, recommended to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi that impeachment proceedings be initiated against Justice Varma.