New Delhi: The Supreme Court Saturday released the report of Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, who was asked to conduct a preliminary probe into the allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma, at whose residence unaccounted-for cash was found.
The 25-page report also encloses Justice Varma’s six-page response denying the allegations, and photographs as well as the video of the burnt cash.
The video clip of the burnt cash recovered from the storeroom at Justice Varma’s residence in Tughlak Crescent area was made, when a team of firefighters and police had reached the spot to extinguish a blaze that broke out on the night of 14 March.
According to the report of Justice Upadhyay, submitted Friday night to Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, the video clip was shared with him by Delhi Police Commissioner on 15 March morning. Justice Upadhyay, on the instructions of CJI Khanna, initiated a preliminary probe, in response to which Justice Varma denied owning the cash found at his residence.
The high court judge has claimed ignorance, saying that the storeroom is never locked and that an attempt is being made to malign him. However, in his prima facie opinion, Justice Upadhyaya rejected Justice Varma’s explanation and held that a deeper probe is needed into the matter.
Following his report, CJI Khanna Saturday constituted a three-member high-level enquiry to investigate the matter. This has been done as part of the in-house enquiry procedure that the top court has evolved to probe allegations against sitting judges of the HC and apex court.
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