New Delhi: The impeachment of Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma - over piles of burnt cash found at his home in March, when he was posted to the Delhi High Court - will be taken up via a government-sponsored motion in the Lok Sabha, sources told media Friday afternoon.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will now form a committee to investigate the charges against Justice Varma and, if sufficient cause is found, recommend his impeachment
The opposition-backed motion accepted by former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar - as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, a move that angered the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and led to his resignation- will be junked since it was never formally tabled in the House, sources said.
This decision on how the impeachment will play out follows a government huddle Wednesday to work out how to reclaim the 'anti-corruption crusader advantage' from the opposition.
Sources earlier told media the BJP wants to be seen as taking the lead in this matter to underline its stance on corruption in the judiciary and make a statement ahead of critical Assembly elections - in Bihar this year, and Bengal and Tamil Nadu the next.
The ruling party had prepared its impeachment motion ahead of the Parliament's monsoon session that began Monday, July 21. The BJP even reached out to opposition parties to ensure cross-party consensus and a handful of opposition MPs signed the government's motion.
But those carefully-laid plans were threatened after Mr Dhankhar mentioned the opposition's proposal in the Rajya Sabha. This, sources said, was a 'violation of the consensus reached (by the government) on this issue... it had been decided that all parties were united on this issue'.
Mr Dhankhar's mention of the opposition motion has been seen as a major reason for his shock resignation. The former Veep stepped down citing ill-health.
On Monday, after his resignation, government sources said that if Mr Dhankhar had only informed them of his intention to accept a motion, MPs from the ruling party would have signed the document, allowing the BJP to retain control, in the public eye, of the impeachment bid.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has begun the process to elect a new Vice President.
India will get a new Vice President by the last week of August, EC sources said.
