Cash at judge’s house: Uploading of probe report ‘seals’ Justice Varma’s fate

Even before a three-judge panel commenced its probe into allegations of recovery of unaccounted cash at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma of the Delhi High Court during a fire incident on March 14, his fate appears to have been sealed by the preliminary findings of the Delhi High Court Chief Justice made public on Saturday night.

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Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna had on Saturday constituted a three-judge committee comprising Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Justice Anu Sivaraman of the Karnataka High Court to probe allegations of recovery of unaccounted cash at Justice Varma’s residence.

After receiving Delhi High Court Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya’s report on the allegations against Justice Varma, the CJI asked the Delhi High Court Chief Justice not to assign any judicial work to Justice Yashwant Varma for the time being.

In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court uploaded on its website Delhi High Court Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya’s inquiry report containing photos and videos of the alleged discovery of cash from Justice Varma’s residence, along with Justice Varma’s response denying the allegations. Senior advocate and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association Vikas Singh said there should be zero tolerance for corruption in judiciary. Peddlers of justice should be hauled up and it’s high time that black sheep in the judiciary were identified and weeded out, he said.

Singh, however, questioned the publication of Justice Upadhyaya’s report, saying it would make the job of the three-judge committee difficult.

“I have no sympathy for any corrupt judge. He must be condemned and punished. But this case has been handled badly right from the beginning which will go to the advantage of the judge in question. The place should have been sealed and the seal should have been preserved till a decision on the fate of the judge,” Singh said.

“The video is not credible evidence and the fire report is neither here nor there …The material against the judge should not have been made public before the completion of the inquiry,” Singh added.

However, advocate Prashant Bhushan defended the CJI’s decision to make public Justice Upadhyaya’s report, saying everything needed to be made public to dispel rumours doing the rounds.

If the committee finds substance in the allegations for initiating proceedings for Justice Varma’s removal, the CJI can advise him to resign or to seek voluntary retirement. If the judge does not heed to his advice, the CJI would intimate the President and the PM of the findings of the committee, warranting initiation of proceedings for his removal.

In his report, Justice Upadhyaya had said, “I am of the prima facie opinion that the entire matter warrants a deeper probe” even as Justice Varma denied the allegation, terming it a conspiracy to frame and malign him.

“Neither I nor any of my kin had any knowledge of cash nor does it have any relation with us. No such cash was shown to my family or staff who were present on that fateful night…I also strongly deny the insinuation, if made, that we removed currency from the storeroom. We were neither shown nor handed over any sacks of burnt currency,” Justice Varma said.