"Procedure will be followed," says Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Justice Yashwant Varma impeachment panel

He said the committee will examine all evidence before making a decision.

Speaking to reporters, Tharoor said, "The process will have to take its course. There is a certain procedure, and I don't think one has to make any comments now. The decision has been made to constitute an impeachment committee. They'll have to look into all the evidence and come to a conclusion..."

Earlier in the day, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla announced the formation of the panel to probe the allegations against the High Court judge. The committee members are Justice Amit Kumar, Justice Maninder Mohan Srivastava and B B Acharya.

Birla accepted a motion signed by 146 MPs seeking Justice Varma's impeachment.

On August 7, the Supreme Court upheld the in-house inquiry procedure that recommended Justice Varma's removal. The Allahabad High Court judge had been under scrutiny after burnt currency notes were found in his residence following a fire.

The apex court dismissed a plea filed by Justice Varma challenging the in-house inquiry panel's report and the former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna's recommendation to initiate impeachment proceedings against him in the case of the fire incident that led to the recovery of burnt unaccounted cash at his official residence in the national capital when he was a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court.

This comes after cash was allegedly found by firefighters when a fire broke out at his Delhi residence on March 14, while he was a judge of the Delhi High Court. The judge was not present at his house.

During a hearing on July 28, the Apex court had posed various questions to Justice Yashwant Varma while hearing his plea. The court asked Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing on behalf of Justice Varma, why his client did not challenge the three-judge in-house inquiry procedure constituted by the Chief Justice of India prior to his appearance before the panel.

The top court questioned why Justice Varma chose to appear before the in-house inquiry panel if he believed it was unconstitutional, and why he is challenging it only now, after the proceedings have concluded. (ANI)