In the first official confirmation that cash/currency notes were found in the residence of Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma when a fire broke out on March 14, the Supreme Court Saturday released its internal inquiry report.
In the redacted report, Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Upadhyaya in a letter dated March 21 asked Justice Varma to “account for the presence of money/cash” in the room located in his official bungalow.
Justice Varma, in his official response to Chief Justice Upadhyaya has denied the allegations.
“I would beseech you to bear in consideration that no currency was recovered from the premises that we actually occupy and use as a family,” he said.
The report was released hours after Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna constituted a three-member committee to probe the allegations against the HC judge.
A release from the Supreme Court said the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court “for the time being has been asked not to assign any judicial work” to Justice Varma.
“The Chief Justice of India has constituted a three member Committee consisting of Mr. Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana, Mr. Justice G.S. Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, and Ms. Anu Sivaraman, Judge of the High Court of Karnataka, for conducting an inquiry into the allegations against Mr. Justice Yashwant Varma, a sitting Judge of the High Court of Delhi,” the release stated.
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It said the report submitted by the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court as well as the response of Justice Varma “and other documents” will be uploaded on the court website.
The decision to appoint the committee followed the submission Friday of a fact-finding report to the CJI by Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court Collegium had proposed Justice Varma’s transfer to the Allahabad High Court, his parent High Court, following a report about the alleged discovery of cash at his residence when a fire broke out there on March 14.
Highly-placed sources said the five-member Collegium unanimously resolved to recommend Justice Varma’s transfer after the judges were apprised about a video of the incident.
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In a statement Friday, the Supreme Court Registry said the Collegium’s “proposal for the transfer of Mr Justice Yashwant Varma, who is the second senior most Judge in the Delhi High Court and a member of the Collegium, to his parent High Court i.e. the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, where he will be ninth in seniority” was “independent and separate from the in-house enquiry procedure” initiated by the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court upon receiving information about the incident.
While noting the “misinformation and rumours being spread” regarding the incident at the residence of Justice Varma, the statement said the report by the HIgh Court Chief Justice “will be examined and processed for further and necessary action”. Subsequently, the report was submitted to the CJI late Friday evening.
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