NEW DELHI: A fire that broke out in the residential bungalow of a Delhi high court judge resulted in recovery of a huge pile of cash, sending shock waves in judicial corridors and forcing the Supreme Court collegium led by CJI Sanjiv Khanna to decide to transfer him to another HC.
When the fire broke out, Justice Yashwant Varma was not in town and his family members called the fire brigade and police. After the fire was doused, first responders found a huge amount of cash inside a room, leading to official entries being made about the recovery of what appeared to be unaccounted money.
The local cops informed their seniors who briefed the brass about the accidental discovery. Soon, the news reached the higher-ups in the govt, who, in turn, informed the CJI about the hoard. CJI Khanna took a very serious view and immediately called for a collegium meeting.
The collegium was unanimous that Justice Varma needed to be transferred immediately. He has been transferred to his parent HC, Allahabad HC. He had moved from there to Delhi HC in Oct 2021.
However, some members of the five-judge collegium felt such a serious incident, if let off with a transfer, would not only tarnish the judiciary’s image but also erode trust in the institution. They said Justice Varma should be asked to resign and if he declined, an in-house inquiry should be initiated by the CJI, as the first step towards his removal by Parliament.
As per the in-house procedure devised by SC in 1999 to deal with allegations of corruption, wrongdoing or impropriety against constitutional court judges, CJI on receipt of a complaint, seeks response of the judge.
He can set up the in-house probe panel comprising an SC judge and chief justices of two HCs in case he is not satisfied with the response or concludes that the matter requires deeper probe.
