NEW DELHI, March 22: A fire at the home of Delhi High Court Judge Yashwant Varma last week led to the discovery of a large amount of unaccounted cash, prompting the Supreme Court Collegium to transfer him to the Allahabad High Court, as reported by The New Indian Express.
CJI Sanjiv Khanna-led Collegium approved Varma's transfer back to his parent court, following reports linking him to the cash recovery.
According to reports, Justice Yashwant Varma was not in town when the fire broke out at his residence on March 14. His family members called the fire and rescue services and the police.
The fire and rescue services personnel stumbled upon a huge stash of cash inside the bunglow on Tughlak Road in the national capital.
Following this, the Delhi Police informed the Ministry of Home Affairs. The MHA sent a report to the CJI.
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This prompted the collegium to unanimously decide on Justice Varma's transfer, moving him back to his parent High Court in Allahabad, where he had previously served before being appointed to the Delhi HC in October 2021, Times Now reported.
However, some members of the five-judge collegium raised concerns that merely transferring the judge would not be sufficient in a case of this magnitude, the report claimed.
They warned that failing to take stricter action could tarnish the judiciary's credibility and erode public trust in the institution, the report added.
A News 18 report noted that earlier in 1999, the Supreme Court had laid down guidelines to deal with allegations of corruption, wrongdoing, and judicial irregularity against judges of the Constitutional Court.
As per the guidelines, if a complaint is received against a judge, the Chief Justice will first seek a reply from the judge concerned. If he is dissatisfied with the answer or feels the matter requires further investigation, he will form an internal committee.
During the inquiry, if the committee feels that the alleged misconduct is of a grave nature requiring removal, it will ask the judge to resign.
Senior lawyer mentions incident before HC, expresses pain
Meanwhile, a senior lawyer on Friday expressed pain and shock before the Delhi High Court over the alleged recovery of huge cash from the residence of Justice Varma, who did not hold court today.
As the lawyer said he and many others were shaken by the development, Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya shared the emotions, and said "so is everybody. We are conscious."
Senior advocate Arun Bhardwaj also mentioned before a bench of Chief Justice Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela to take some steps so that such incidents do not happen in future.
"We respect the system a lot. Each of the judges are respected a lot. We are shaken my lords and demoralised. Please take some steps. I am not expressing my pain any further and I am sure I am expressing the pain of many of my brothers. Please take some steps to see that such incidents do not happen," Bhardwaj said.
At around 11 am, the court master of Justice Varma's court announced that the division bench was on leave on Friday and any urgent mentioning can be made before another bench.