New Delhi: Following reports of alleged cash discovery from sitting Delhi HC judge Yashwant Varma’s official home, the Supreme Court on Friday said the Delhi High Court chief justice had initiated an in-house inquiry against him and the proposal to transfer him to the Allahabad High Court was separate.
The purported discovery of a huge stash of cash happened following a fire at Varma’s Lutyens Delhi residence at around 11.35 pm on March 14, prompting the Delhi fire department personnel to rush to the spot and douse it.
Delhi Fire Services Chief Atul Garg, however, denied claims of the cash discovery by the fire fighters. The quantum of the alleged discovered amount is also not known.
The incident created ripples in the legal circuit, with many voices calling for the judge’s resignation while criticising the Supreme Court collegium decision to transfer him.
To put to rest the supposed conjectures, the top court issued a statement which read, “There is misinformation and rumours being spread with regard to the incident at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma.”
While confirming reports that the apex court collegium met to discuss the matter, the top court said Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya would submit a report to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna today.
Upon receiving the information, the apex court said, Justice Upadhyaya “commenced the in-house enquiry procedure collecting evidence and information”.
Justice Upadhyaya was stated to have commenced the enquiry prior to the collegium meeting on March 20.
“The report will be examined and processed for further and necessary action,” the statement added.
It said the proposal for transfer of Justice Varma, who is the second senior-most judge in the Delhi High Court, to the Allahabad High Court was “independent and separate from the in-house enquiry procedure”.
“Moreover, the reported incident has happened in Delhi,” it said.
The apex court said the proposal for transfer him was examined by the apex court collegium comprising the CJI and four senior-most judges on March 20, and thereafter letters were shot off to the consultee judges of the top court, the chief justices of the high courts concerned apart from Justice Varma.
“Responses received will be examined and, thereupon, the collegium will pass a resolution,” the court said.
Justice Upadhyaya, while presiding his bench, expressed shock on the matter.
The chief justice’s reaction came when a senior lawyer mentioned before him that he and many other advocates were pained and shaken by the incident and urged the chief justice to take some steps on the administrative side.
The issue was raised in the Rajya Sabha too on Friday, with Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar saying he will find a mechanism for holding a structured discussion on the issue.
Raising the issue in the morning session, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh sought the Chair’s response on judicial accountability and reminded him about a pending notice regarding impeachment of a judge of the Allahabad High Court.
The incident also elicited strong reactions from legal experts who questioned the collegium and demanded Justice Varma’s resignation.
While senior advocate Vikas Singh called the matter “very serious” and said the judge should be asked to resign, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi said the apex court should hold an in-house inquiry and ascertain all facts after opportunity to the judge to have his say.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising said the Supreme Court collegium should make a “full, free and frank” disclosure of the facts.
She said it was surprising that the information about the incident, which was alleged to have occurred on March 14, came out only on March 21.
Delhi High Court website shows Justice Varma enrolled as an advocate on August 8, 1992. He was appointed as an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court on October 13, 2014.
He took oath as a permanent judge of the Allahabad High Court on February 1, 2016, before being appointed as a judge of the Delhi High Court on October 11, 2021.
He is currently heading a division bench, dealing with cases of sales tax, GST, company appeals and other appeals of the original side.
On Friday, Justice Varma did not hold court, said his court master.
The top court has an in-house inquiry mechanism in place to deal with allegations against judges of the Constitutional courts.
The procedure entails the CJI, after a preliminary inquiry, forming a committee of three Supreme Court judges to enquire into the matter after seeking the response of the judge concerned.
Based on the report of the panel, further action could be taken.
A judge of a constitutional court can be removed from office only through an impeachment motion passed by Parliament.
PTI
