“When it comes to corruption in the judiciary, we have to stand together. There cannot be any partisan attitude and it should not be made a political issue,” Rijiju said.The Congress has said all its MPs will support the motion against Justice Varma.Rijiju said a motion for the removal of a judge has to be signed by not less than 100 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 50 in the Rajya Sabha.The petition has to be submitted to the chair, who will inform the House, constitute an inquiry in accordance with the Judges Inquiry Act and get a report in three months.”So the three-month-period requirement will have to be fulfilled. And after that the inquiry report will be tabled in Parliament and a discussion held in both Houses,” Rijiju said.A fire incident at Justice Varma’s Lutyens’ Delhi residence in March, when he was a judge of the Delhi High Court, had led to the discovery of sacks of half-burnt cash in the outhouse.Justice Varma was subsequently repatriated to the Allahabad High Court but no judicial work was assigned to him.An in-house probe ordered by then chief justice of India Sanjeev Khanna has indicted him.Though Justice Varma has denied any wrongdoing, the inquiry panel has concluded that the judge and his family members had covert or active control over the storeroom, where the cash was found, proving his misconduct serious enough to seek his removal.On former law minister Kapil Sibal’s remarks drawing a parallel between Justice Varma and Justice Shekhar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court over the latter’s “controversial” statement, Rijiju said Parliament cannot be guided by “one lawyer-MP’s personal agenda”.Noting that Sibal is a senior person, the minister alleged that he is only driven by his “personal agenda.””We will not be driven by one lawyer-MP’s agenda. We are not here to set an agenda or drive an agenda. We are working purely in the interest of the country,” he said.Rijiju said Sibal does not realise that many MPs have gone far beyond him in terms of understanding, intellectual capability and the knowledge of law.”He is a very average lawyer… He cannot guide the Parliament of India. The Parliament of India will be guided by all the members of Parliament,” he said.
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