The three-member panel of judges probing the allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma has found credence in the allegation of cash being found at his official residence in Delhi when a fire broke out there on March 14, The Indian Express has learnt.
It is learnt that Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna wrote to Justice Varma on May 4, now a judge of the Allahabad High Court, sharing a copy of the report. The CJI is learnt to have prefaced the report with an option for Justice Verma to tender his resignation.
Sources said CJI Khanna also informally discussed the report’s conclusion with his colleagues over tea before the Court proceedings began on May 5.
Appointed by the CJI on March 22, the panel, comprising Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana; Justice G S Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh; and Justice Anu Sivaraman, Judge of the High Court of Karnataka; recorded the statements of a range of witnesses.
These include: police personnel who were among the first responders to the fire at Justice Varma’s residence; Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg; three firefighters; three security personnel of the judge; CRPF personnel; Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora; DCP Devesh Mahala and Additional DCP (New Delhi district) Sumit Jha.
Justice Varma was transferred out on March 20 and he took oath as judge at the Allahabad High Court on April 5.
While Justice Verma’s next steps are awaited, it is learnt that one of the options before him is to seek an appointment with the Supreme Court Collegium headed by CJI Khanna and comprising Justices BR Gavai, the next in line to be CJI, and Justice Surya Kant.
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This was done in 2008 when the SC set up a similar in-house panel to probe allegations of impropriety against then Calcutta High Court judge Soumitra Sen.
Given that CJI Khanna retires on May 13, the window for further action is short.
On March 16, 2008, the then SC Collegium, headed by former CJI K G Balakrishnan, had allowed a personal hearing to Justice Sen. Before that hearing, based on the report’s findings, the CJI had advised Justice Sen to resign or opt for voluntary retirement. Justice Sen had rejected both options but eventually resigned when the impeachment motion was put before the Lok Sabha.
Six months later, Justice Balakrishnan wrote to the President recommending the impeachment of Justice Sen.
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In Justice Varma’s case, the window for further action is limited since CJI Khanna retires on May 13.
Justice Varma, in his response to Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya, had denied the presence of any money, saying that no cash was shown to the staff at his residence. Justice Upadhyaya included this in his initial report to CJI Khanna and later made it public March 22.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
