Cash at judge’s house: Several questions remain unanswered

As more than 100 MPs prepare to bring a notice for a motion to remove Justice Yashwant Varma of the Allahabad High Court in the Monsoon Session of Parliament commencing on Monday, several questions remain unanswered.

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Many wonder as to why no FIR was registered with regard to a fire broke out on March 14 at 11.35 pm at the residence of Justice Varma—who was then a Delhi High Court Judge—in a storeroom stocked with stationery and domestic articles which led to alleged recovery of unaccounted burnt cash from the site.

The Constitution provides for immunity from prosecution only for the President and Governors while in office. According to Article 361(2), “No criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the President, or the Governor of a State, in any court during his term of office.” Similarly, Article 361(3) says that no process for the arrest or imprisonment of the President, or the Governor of a State, shall be issued from any court during his term of office.

However, there is no such protection given to a judge under the Constitution. But the police can’t register an FIR against a sitting High Court or Supreme Court judge on their own in view of the Supreme Court’s direction in K Veeraswami versus Union of India (1991) in which it was held that such a criminal case can only be filed after consulting the CJI.

What is important is that the Veeraswami judgment does not bar registration of an FIR in this case as there’s no need to name the judge at the first instance. The Delhi Police could have lodged an FIR without naming anybody and later approached the CJI for his permission, if they needed to name Justice Varma as an accused in the case.

In the absence of an FIR and a probe, it remains a mystery whom the alleged cash belonged to and who arranged it. Was it paid to influence a judicial outcome? Who removed it? All these questions remain unanswered.

In its May 4 report, an in-house committee consisting of Punjab & Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice G.S. Sandhawalia and Justice Anu Sivaraman of the Karnataka High Court indicted Justice Varma for recovery of a huge stash of cash in the storeroom of his official residence in New Delhi. The then CJI Sanjiv Justice Khanna on May 8 wrote to the President and the Prime Minister recommending Justice Varma's removal.

Now, the matter has got further complicated by Justice Varma moving the Supreme Court challenging the in-house committee report and seeking to declare that Justice Khanna’s recommendation for his removal as unconstitutional.

Following the allegations, Justice Varma was transferred back to his parent high court, i.e., the Allahabad High Court, and judicial work was temporarily taken away from him on instructions of the CJI.

One can’t hazard a guess about the outcome of the notice for motion to remove Justice Varma. But his transfer to another high court or even his eventual removal certainly can’t be a solution to allegations of corruption that has tarred the image of the Judiciary.