Two days after the resignation of Jagdish Dhankhar from the post of the Vice President, the government is brainstorming ways to undo the damage he caused by accepting the Opposition notice for the impeachment of Justice Yashwant Varma – the judge at the centre of the cash-at-home scandal.

While the procedure of impeachment is complicated at best, Mr Dhankhar’s move has made the government’s job more difficult.

Earlier, sources had said that the government had wanted to take the lead in the impeachment – introducing the issue from the Lok Sabha – to send a message about its stance on corruption in judiciary. It was also a crucial matter of optics, given its earlier efforts to tweak the judges’ appointment system.

The Centre had even readied a motion for Justice Varma’s removal, taken signatures from Opposition MPs from the Lok Sabha as well.

Following Mr Dhankhar’s acceptance of the Opposition notice in the Upper House, a flurry of meetings had started within the government.

One of these meetings was attended by the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, Deputy Chairman of RS Harivansh and the Secretary Generals of both the Houses.

The government has concluded that the notice moved by the Opposition and read out by Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday was technically flawed. There were discussions on whether the motion should be withdrawn or necessary amendments should be made to it to conform to procedure, sources have said.

Sources said it has now been decided to withdraw the Opposition proposal from the Rajya Sabha, so the Lok Sabha Speaker can recommend the formation of a three-member committee to look into the allegations against the judge.

It has also been argued that the Deputy Speaker can reverse Mr Dhankhar’s move.

Jagdeep Dhankhar’s Resignation

On Monday, after Mr Dhankhar accepted the Opposition’s proposal for impeachment of Justice Yashwant Varma without apprising the government, it was caught completely by surprise. “If the government had been informed, MPs from the ruling party would have also signed the motion,” said a source.

A series of meetings were held – one of them between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior ministers. BJP MPs were called and asked to sign a significant motion about which they were asked to stay silent.

Getting wind of the government’s displeasure, Mr Dhankhar had opted to step down, sources said.