SC Collegium recommends transfer of Justice Varma to Allahabad High Court

Justice Yashwant Varma of the Delhi High Court, who has been in the eye of the storm over the alleged recovery of unaccounted cash from his residence during a fire incident on March 14, was on Monday recommended to be transferred to the Allahabad High Court — his parent high court.

Advertisement

The decision was taken by the five-member Supreme Court Collegium, led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, after considering the issue for the second time on Monday. The other four members of the Collegium are Justice BR Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, Justice AS Oka and Justice Vikram Nath.

“The SC Collegium, at its meetings held on March 20 and 24, has recommended the repatriation of Justice Varma, a judge of the High Court of Delhi, to the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad,” a Collegium resolution published on the Supreme Court website said.

The SC had on Friday sought to dispel “misinformation and rumours” about the proposal to transfer him, saying it was still under consideration and that it was not linked to the in-house inquiry initiated by the Delhi High Court Chief Justice.

The Centre was expected to issue a formal order soon notifying Justice Varma’s transfer to the Allahabad High Court where lawyers were up in arms against the decision to repatriate him to his parent high court. They have decided to resort to an indefinite strike from Tuesday.

“The High Court Bar Association opposes any proposed transfer of Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court or its Lucknow Bench or to any other high court,” Allahabad High Court Bar Association president Anil Tiwari said in Prayagraj, urging the CJI to “immediately recommend” to the government to initiate the removal proceedings against him. Tiwari also demanded scrutiny of Justice Varma’s judgments.

Earlier in the day, Delhi High Court Chief Justice DK Upadhyay removed Justice Varma from judicial duties with immediate effect. “In view of the recent events, the judicial work from Justice Varma is withdrawn with “immediate effect” till further orders,” a Delhi High Court circular stated.

While forming 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 investigate the allegations of discovery of unaccounted cash from Justice Varma’s residence, CJI Khanna had on Saturday asked the Delhi High Court Chief Justice not to assign any judicial work to Justice Varma for the time being.

In an unprecedented move, the SC on Saturday uploaded on its website the Delhi High Court Chief Justice’s 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.

If the three-judge committee indicts Justice Varma, the CJI can advise him to resign or seek voluntary retirement. If the judge in question does not heed his advice, the CJI will intimate the President and the Prime Minister of the findings of the committee, warranting initiation of proceedings for his removal.