The Supreme Court on Friday initiated an in-house inquiry against Delhi High Court Justice Yashwant Varma, following the recovery of a large sum of unaccounted cash from his residence on March 14.
The Apex Court further directed Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya to submit a report on the matter.
Earlier on March 21, the Supreme Court Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and comprising Justice BR Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice Abhay S Oka as members, ordered immediate transfer of Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma to his parent High Court of Allahabad, in view of the huge amount of cash recovered from his residence last week.
Sources said a full court meeting of all Supreme Court judges was held this morning, which observed that a punitive transfer would not be enough and some concrete action has to be taken against the judge.
The Apex Court judges unanimously agreed to an in-house probe against Justice Varma, calling transfer as the first step in the process.
Although the transfer of Justice Varma was yet to get a nod from the government, the process for the same was currently underway.
Justice Varma did not hold the court today. His court staff revealed in the open court that he was on leave.
As per a leading English daily, a massive fire broke out at the residence of Justice Varma on March 14. The judge was reportedly out of town when the incident happened. His family called the fire brigade and police.
After the blaze was extinguished, officials discovered a huge sum of cash inside one of the rooms. The local police documented the recovery and reported the matter to senior officials, eventually alerting higher authorities in the government.
As soon as the news reached CJI Sanjiv Khanna, he convened an urgent Collegium meeting, which ordered immediate transfer of the Delhi High Court judge to his parent High Court in Allahabad, where he had previously served before being appointed to the Delhi High Court in October 2021.
Justice Varma was born in 1969. He completed his LLB degree from Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa University and enrolled as an advocate in 1992. He served as Special Counsel for the Allahabad High Court and as Chief Standing Counsel for the State of Uttar Pradesh during his days as a lawyer.
He was designated as a Senior Advocate in 2013 and appointed as an Additional Judge of the High Court in October 2014. He was made a permanent judge of his parent High Court in February 2016.
Justice Varma was later transferred to the Delhi High Court, where he assumed office on October 11, 2021.
As per the in-house procedure formulated by the Supreme Court in 1999, while dealing with allegations of corruption or misconduct against judges, the CJI should first seek the judge’s explanation.
If dissatisfied, a probe panel could be constituted comprising a sitting judge from the Apex Court and two High Court Chief Justices to conduct investigation against the judge.