The Supreme Court on Friday evening claimed that the Apex Court Collegium did not recommend the transfer of Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, who was embroiled in a major controversy following the alleged recovery of a large sum of unaccounted cash from his official residence in Delhi.
An official statement issued by the Apex Court said the Collegium was yet to make any official recommendation regarding the transfer of Justice Varma to his parent High Court in Allahabad since the proposal was still under consideration.
The judicial appointments body has asked for inputs from consultee judges of the Apex Court, the Chief Justices of the concerned High Courts and Justice Varma himself, over the recommendation. The Collegium would pass a resolution after examining the responses, it added.
Noting that misinformation and rumours were being spread with regard to the incident at the residence of Justice Varma, the top court of the country said the transfer proposal was independent of the in-house inquiry initiated against Justice Varma over the alleged recovery of unaccounted cash from his residence.
Earlier in the day, a leading English daily claimed that the Supreme Court Collegium had ordered immediate transfer of Justice Varma to his parent High Court in Allahabad, following the alleged recovery of a huge amount of unaccounted cash from his residence last week.
It reported that on March 14, a massive fire broke out at the residence of Justice Varma. 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 allegedly discovered around Rs 15 crore 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 to discuss the matter.
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 allegedly recovered from his residence earlier.
Some members of the five-judge Collegium, however, raised concerns that merely transferring the judge would not be sufficient in a case of this magnitude.
They warned that failing to take stricter action could tarnish the judiciary’s credibility and erode public trust in the institution.
As per the newspaper, the members suggested asking Justice Varma to resign voluntarily. If he refused, an in-house inquiry may be initiated against him, which could later lead to impeachment proceedings by the Parliament.
It was later reported that the full court of the Apex Court also initiated an inquiry into the incident.
The official statement released by the top court of the country, however, said the transfer and the in-house probe were independent of each other.
While the in-house probe was pursuant to the cash recovery allegations, the transfer proposal was independent of the same, it added.
The proposal to transfer Justice Yashwant Varma, the second seniormost judge in the Delhi High Court and a member of the Collegium, to his parent High Court – the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, where he would be ninth in seniority, was independent and separate from the In-house enquiry procedure, noted the statement.
The top court of the country further said that Delhi High Court Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya had commenced the in-house inquiry procedure by collecting evidence and information prior to the Collegium meeting of March 20.
Justice Upadhyaya would be submitting his report to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna later on Friday and the same would be examined & processed for further and necessary action, it added.
The in-house procedure formulated by the Supreme Court in 1999 says that while dealing with allegations of corruption or misconduct against judges, the CJI should first seek the judge’s explanation. If dissatisfied, a probe panel can be constituted comprising a sitting judge from the Apex Court and two High Court Chief Justices to conduct investigation.
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.