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Cash row: Allahabad HC bar body demands impeachment proceedings against Justice Yashwant Verma
Anil Tiwari, the president of the bar body, said the association was against Justice Varma's transfer to any bench across the country.
The Allahabad High Court Bar Association on Monday objected to the transfer of Justice Yashwant Varma to the high court amid the cash recovery row, asking the Supreme Court to place under scrutiny his prior judgments.
The bar body urged the Chief Justice of India to "immediately recommend" to the government the initiation of impeachment proceedings against the judge, reported PTI.
Anil Tiwari, the president of the bar body, said the association was against Justice Varma's transfer to any bench across the country.
"The High Court Bar Association opposes any proposed transfer of Justice Yashwant Varma to Allahabad High Court or its Lucknow bench or any other high court," he said.
He demanded that Justice Verma's verdicts should be reviewed to restore the faith of the masses in the judicial system.
The Delhi high court judge landed in a soup after charred piles of cash were allegedly recovered from his house during a fire. He and his wife were in Bhopal at the time of the incident.
"All the judgements delivered by Justice Yashwant Varma during his tenure as a judge at Allahabad High Court and Delhi High Court be reviewed to inspire confidence of people at large to regain public faith in the judicial system," said the association's resolution.
A Supreme Court collegium on Monday recommended the judge's transfer to the Allahabad high court.
The alleged cash discovery occurred after a fire at Varma's Lutyens Delhi residence at around 11.35 pm on March 14. The apex court collegium and the Delhi high court subsequently issued a series of directives, including the withdrawal of judicial work from Justice Varma on Monday.
The bar body has demanded that an FIR be registered against the judge.
"The CJI should immediately permit the filing of FIR and investigation by the CBI, ED and other investigative agencies with full permission to the investigative agencies to apply the law of the land to every offender," it said.
The association also sought the President of India, the Centre to take necessary steps to make the impeachment procedure "quick, easy and transparent by including members of the civil society".
What Justice Yashwant Varma said
Justice Yashwant Varma had claimed that he was being framed in what he described as a “conspiracy to malign” him. Responding to questions posed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna in a letter to Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, Justice Varma said that neither he nor his family members had any knowledge of the money.
"I unequivocally state that neither I nor any of my family members had stored or kept any cash or currency in that storeroom at any point in time. The very idea or suggestion that this cash was kept or stored by us is preposterous,” Justice Varma said.
With inputs from PTI, ANI
