But the “actual summoning date will be counted from the day Rashtrapati ji issues the summons to call both Houses of Parliament,” the minister told reporters here.
The opposition has alleged that the government has announced the start of the Monsoon Session of Parliament 47 days before the date to run away from the demand of the INDIA bloc for an immediate special session to discuss the Pahalgam attack and the Centre’s failure to bring the terrorists to justice.
Referring to the motion to remove Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Varma, he said the government has reached out to all political parties and wants everyone to be on board on the sensitive issue of corruption in the judiciary.
He said the issue of corruption in the judiciary is not an agenda of a particular political party, and everyone should be on the same page, since impeachment of a judge is a right available to Parliament.
Responding to a question, he said all issues can be discussed during the session, as per the rules.
A fire incident at Justice Varma’s residence in the national capital in March, when he was a judge at the Delhi High Court, had led to the discovery of several burnt sacks of cash in an outhouse.
Though the judge claimed ignorance about the cash, he was indicted by a Supreme Court-appointed committee, which spoke to a number of witnesses and recorded his statement.
The then CJI, Khanna, is believed to have prodded him to resign, but Justice Varma dug in his heels. The apex court has since repatriated him to his parent court, the Allahabad High Court, where he has not been assigned any judicial work.
Justice Khanna had written to the president and the prime minister, recommending the impeachment motion, which is the procedure for axing members of the higher judiciary from service. PTI NAB VN VN
