Row over cash 'discovery' from judge's residence: Delhi HC chief justice submits report to CJI

New Delhi, Mar 22 PTI) Delhi High Court's Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya has submitted a report to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna in connection with the alleged discovery of cash from Justice Yashwant Varma's official residence here.

Justice Upadhyaya had commenced an in-house enquiry procedure over the incident, collecting evidence and information. He submitted his report to the CJI on Friday after talking to all the authorities concerned, including the fire department and police.

The apex court collegium will look into the report and may initiate further action.

The purported discovery of a huge stash of cash happened following a fire at Justice Varma's Lutyens' Delhi residence at around 11:35 pm on the night of Holi on March 14, prompting the fire department personnel to rush to the spot and douse the flames.

In a statement on Friday, the Supreme Court said the Delhi High Court chief justice had initiated an in-house inquiry against Justice Varma and separately, there was a proposal to transfer the judge to the Allahabad High Court.

"There is misinformation and rumours are being spread with regard to the incident at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma," the statement said.

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 a meeting of the apex court collegium on March 20.

The Supreme Court said the proposal for transferring Justice Varma was examined by the apex court collegium comprising the CJI and the four seniormost judges on March 20 and thereafter, letters were shot off to the consultee judges of the top court and the chief justices of the high courts concerned, besides Justice Varma.

"Responses received will be examined and, thereupon, the collegium will pass a resolution," the court said.

The issue was raised in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, with Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar saying he will find a mechanism for holding a structured discussion on it.

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 the impeachment of a judge of the Allahabad High Court.

The Delhi High Court website shows Justice Varma was 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, the Goods and Services Tax (GST), company appeals and other appeals on the original side.

On Friday, Justice Varma did not hold court, his court master said.

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 only be removed from office through an impeachment motion passed by Parliament. PTI PKS SJK RC

Source: PTI