New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, reserved its judgment in the petition filed by Justice Yashwant Varma, challenging the recommendation made by former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna to impeach him over the recovery of a large sum of unaccounted cash at his official residence in New Delhi.
The bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice A G Masih observed that Justice Varma’s conduct did not inspire confidence since he chose to move the Court belatedly after an in-house committee constituted by the CJI arrived at adverse findings against him. The Court also hinted that it might refrain from interfering in the matter since the removal of the judge is currently being considered by Parliament.
“The points you are raising are major, but could have been raised before, and thus your conduct does not inspire confidence and your conduct says a lot. You don’t want something to spill here. Let Parliament decide. Why should we decide whether it is your money or not? That was not the remit of the in-house committee,” the Bench remarked.
It was referring to Justice Varma’s stance that the in-house committee did not conduct a thorough probe into the source of the money allegedly recovered from the residence of the judge.
In his petition, Justice Varma also sought a declaration that the recommendation made by former CJI Khanna for his removal as a High Court judge be declared unconstitutional and ultra vires.
According to Justice Varma, the in-house inquiry against him was initiated without any formal complaint and that the Supreme Court’s decision to publicly disclose the allegations through a press release subjected him to an “unprecedented” media trial.
Bundles of burning cash were allegedly recovered by fire fighters from Justice Varma’s official bungalow in New Delhi during a fire on the evening of March 14. A video later surfaced showing bundles of cash burning in the fire. He was then a judge of the Delhi High Court.
The incident led to allegations of corruption against Justice Varma, who denied the accusations and said that it appeared to be a conspiracy to frame him. The CJI then initiated an in-house probe into the allegations and set up a three-member committee on March 22 to conduct the inquiry.
Following the allegations, Justice Varma was sent back to his parent High Court, the Allahabad High Court but was not allotted any judicial work. The committee, meanwhile, indicted the judge in its report that was forwarded by CJI Khanna to the President and Prime Minister.
Justice Varma then moved the Supreme Court with the present petition against the findings in the report and the recommendation of CJI Khanna.
According to the plea, the invocation of the in-house procedure against him was improper and invalid since it was done in the absence of any formal complaint. The proceedings before the Committee violated natural justice principles since the panel failed to notify him of its devised procedure and denied him any opportunity to provide inputs on the evidence, his plea stated.
The petition also said that it was essential to determine who the cash belonged to and how much was found. The panel report provides no such answers, as per Justice Varma. He also alleged that CJI Khanna had asked him to resign or seek voluntary retirement within an “unduly restricted timeline”.