Justice Varma cash-at-home row: Can Parliament still remove judge from office?

The Lok Sabha faces significant obstacles in pursuing Justice Varma's removal despite the inquiry committee's finding that charges against him for discovering unaccounted currency notes in his official residence were proven. According to Article 217(1) of the Constitution, a judge can cease to hold office upon submitting a resignation letter addressed to the President.

Justice Varma resigned as a judge of the Allahabad High Court on April 10 and withdrew from the inquiry proceedings, recognizing that his resignation was inevitable. The legality of a judge's resignation is a matter the Supreme Court addressed in the Gopal Chandra Misra case on February 15, 1978, where it was unanimously decided that once a judge sends his resignation to the President, he is no longer considered a judge.

In that instance, the court ruled by a four-to-one majority that since Varma's resignation was prospective, he was within his rights to withdraw it before the appointed date.