Justice Yashwant Varma case: A Supreme Court-appointed three-member committee on Tuesday began its probe into the alleged cash discovery case linked to Delhi high court judge Justice Yashwant Varma.
As part of the inquiry, Justice Sheel Nagu (Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana high court), Justice GS Sandhawalia (Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh high court), and Justice Anu Sivaraman (judge of Karnataka high court) visited Justice Yashwant Varma’s official bungalow at 30, Tughlak Crescent in Delhi.
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The judges reportedly spent about 30-35 minutes inside the house, inspecting the premises before leaving.
Cash discovery row
A fire at the storeroom of the official residence of Justice Yashwant Varma on March 14 in posh Lutyens' Delhi locality purportedly led to the discovery of the cash by firefighters and police personnel.
On March 22, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna has constituted a three-member panel to probe the discovery of “four to five semi-burnt sacks” of Indian currency notes after the fire incident.
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{{/usCountry}}Also Read | Why Justice Varma had to be repatriated despite suspension of judicial duties
{{/usCountry}}The alleged cash discovery took place around 11.35pm on March 14, prompting the fire officials to rush to the spot and douse it.
Justice Yashwant Varma's response
Justice Varma strongly denounced the allegations and said no cash was ever placed in the storeroom either by him or any of my family members.
In his response submitted to Delhi high court Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya, Justice Varma said the allegations of cash discovery at his residence clearly appeared to be a conspiracy to frame and malign him.
SC collegium issues resolution repatriating Delhi HC judge
The Supreme Court collegium on Monday issued a resolution repatriating Justice Yashwant Varma to the Allahabad high court in connection with the controversy.
The decision came hours after Delhi high court chief justice DK Upadhyaya withdrew Justice Varma from judicial duties with immediate effect, and reassigned the cases handled by him to a different bench.
The collegium comprises Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and justices Bhushan R Gavai, Surya Kant, Abhay S Oka and Vikram Nath. The collegium had also met last Thursday in connection with the same issue, at a time when the allegations against justice Varma had not publicly surfaced.
“In view of the recent events, the judicial work from Hon’ble Mr. Yashwant Varma is withdrawn with immediate effect till further orders,” a circular issued by the Delhi high court stated on Monday morning.