"Unconstitutional": RS MP Kapil Sibal on removal of Justice Yashwant Verma

ANI

New Delhi, June 10, 2025 (ANI): On the removal of Justice Yashwant Verma, senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said that the steps to remove Justice Yashwant Verma on the basis of an in-house enquiry report will be "unconstitutional", adding that a precedent like this will be a "huge" danger for judicial independence. Talking to ANI, Sibal said, "Kiren Rijiju is trying with the opposition parties that they should come together, to remove Justice Yashwant Verma... If they do so, we will oppose that. We warn the government that any such step will be unconstitutional. Such a precedent will be a huge danger for judicial independence... It's an indirect way of controlling the judiciary. It is dangerous to bypass the Judges' Enquiry Act... Those who are in a higher position are fulfilling their responsibility a bit slowly."

Transcript

00:00I can't say that any court or chairman can decide how many days, how many years and how many years you can decide.

00:07Because this is the right thing.

00:10And in the same way, it's not written.

00:13How many months you can decide.

00:17So, these two things are happening.

00:21In the case of Yashvant Verma,

00:23you say that you are in public domain,

00:25but in the case of Sheikhar Yadav.

00:30So, this is, according to me, very unfortunate.

00:37And in fact, it smacks of discrimination.

00:43For if it is your case,

00:49that having found out in the public domain

00:55that an in-house procedure was going on,

00:58and therefore, since a petition was pending before you for impeachment,

01:05the Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha decided to write and inform the Chief Justice of India

01:11that that motion is pending, and therefore you shouldn't go forward with your in-house procedure.

01:18Whereas we all know that the in-house procedure has nothing to do with the impeachment motion.

01:24And that impeachment motion has not even been admitted so far.

01:27We filed the impeachment motion on December 13, 2024.

01:31And we are in June 2025.

01:34Six months have passed, and the Secretariat has not yet verified.

01:38The Secretariat of the Rajya Sabha has not yet verified 55 signatures.

01:42How long does that take?

01:44I asked the Secretariat of the Rajya Sabha.

01:47How long does that take?

01:50And how long will you be delaying this?

01:56Because your intent of this government is to save Shekhar Yadar for what he said,

02:01which was entirely communal, when he made this speech on 8th of December, 2024.

02:07And the Chief Justice of India decided to start an in-house procedure to find out

02:16as to what the stand of Shekhar Yadar was.

02:18He was called.

02:19He was asked as to whether he had given this speech.

02:22Of course, that he couldn't deny.

02:24And after that, when obviously the government thought that this would go further

02:31and the in-house procedure would start,

02:33especially when the Ilaba, Chief Justice of the Ilaba High Court gave a negative report,

02:39and there were other complaints also against Shekhar Yadar.

02:43So, knowing that this would lead to deep embarrassment,

02:48they decided to protect Shekhar Yadar,

02:52and therefore they have delayed the signature campaign.

02:55They have delayed the verification of signatures.

02:58And this will go on and on and on till he retires in 2026, early 2026.

03:02This is very unfortunate.

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