New Delhi: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna Friday issued fresh instructions to Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Arun Bhansali, directing him not to allocate judicial work to Justice Yashwant Varma, who is under scrutiny in the cash discovery controversy.
The orders came within hours of a central government notification clearing Justice Varma’s repatriation to his parent Allahabad High Court.
The Supreme Court Collegium led by CJI Khanna had on 24 March passed a formal resolution to transfer Justice Varma to Allahabad HC, even though a decision to move him out was taken on 20 March.
The collegium’s final resolution, announcing the transfer, came two days after CJI Khanna formed a three-member enquiry panel to conduct a deeper probe into the alleged discovery of cash during a fire at Justice Varma’s Delhi residence on the night of 14 March. On the same day the panel was formed, the CJI had also instructed Delhi High Court Chief Justice D.K. Updhayaya to withdraw judicial work from Justice Varma.
The decision to form an enquiry panel was triggered after Chief Justice Upadhyaya submitted his report on the allegations related to discovery of cash. Two separate teams of fire department personnel and Delhi Police were at the site where they had gone to attend a call about a fire that broke out in the storeroom of Justice Varma’s residence.
Justice Varma, however, has denied the presence of cash and claimed the storeroom was not part of his residence, but attached to the quarters housing his security guards, where unusable household articles were kept. This room, he explained, was never bolted and was accessible to everyone, including the gardener and CPWD officials.
In his report, Justice Upadhyaya had suggested a deeper probe, considering there were two different versions about the incident. It, however, said that only those who lived or were present in the premises could access the storeroom.
As one of the seniormost judges, Justice Varma was part of the three-member collegium that chose suitable candidates for elevation to the bench. He was also a member of several administrative committees of the HC.
In case he would have remained in Delhi, all administrative work, including that of the collegium, would have gotten stalled. To avoid such a situation, the Supreme Court Collegium had proposed his transfer.
Back in Allahabad HC, Justice Varma will be number nine in seniority.
Justice Varma’s transfer to Allahabad HC has been strongly opposed by the court’s bar association, which had urged the CJI to revoke it. The bar association there has already called a strike as a mark of protest and also threatened to boycott him.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Also Read: Why SC refused to entertain PIL seeking FIR against Justice Yashwant Varma in cash row
With respect, does that even need to be said.