New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Friday, refused to entertain a petition by an advocate, seeking permission to lodge an FIR against Justice Yashwant Varma of the Delhi High Court. Justice Varma has been in the news lately over allegations of bundles of cash being found in his official residence during a fire on the night of March 14.
The Supreme Court has, since, set up a three-member committee to probe the allegations and asked the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, not to assign any judicial work to Justice Varma. A decision by the Supreme Court to transfer Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court was met with stiff resistance from the bar association there.
On Friday, the Supreme Court bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan was hearing a petition by advocate Mathews Nedumpara. In his petition, the advocate pointed out: “The common man keeps asking why no FIR was registered on March 14.”
The Supreme Court bench told Nedumpara that it would not be correct to entertain the plea ‘at this stage’ as an in-house inquiry is pending. “The in-house inquiry is ongoing. If the report sees something wrong, FIR can be directed, or [the] matter can be referred to the Parliament. Today is not the time to consider it,” the bench held.
Justice Varma, on his part, has written to the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, saying that the allegation is an effort to malign his character. He claimed that the room where the cash was allegedly discovered was always left unlocked and was accessible to all. He also maintained that no cash was shown to either his staff or family members.
The Supreme Court, meanwhile, has uploaded all documents pertaining to the case, including a purported video clip of the smouldering cash bundles, on its website, making them accessible to all. This indicates that the Apex Court desires transparency in the matter.
