Supreme Court initiates in-house probe into Delhi high court judge Yashwant Varma cash recovery incident: Report
The Supreme Court has also sought a report from Delhi high court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, Bar & Bench reported.
The Supreme Court on Friday initiated an in-house probe into Delhi high court Justice Yashwant Varma after a huge pile of unaccounted cash was allegedly recovered from his residence after a fire broke out at the bungalow, Bar & Bench reported, citing unnamed sources.
The Supreme Court has also sought a report from Delhi high court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, the report added.
Also Read | Delhi HC judge Yashwant Varma transferred after fire reveals pile of cash in bungalow
The development comes after the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna has reportedly decided to transfer Justice Yashwant Varma from the Delhi high court to his parent Allahabad high court following the incident.
Earlier on Friday, senior advocate Adish Aggarwala, former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president, said the Supreme Court collegium must conduct a thorough inquiry into allegations levelled against judge Yashwant Varma and apprise about provisions that allow for an in-house committee formation to investigate allegations of such nature, news agency PTI reportee.
The Supreme Court collegium- led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna had met on Thursday evening and decided to transfer Justice Yashwant Varma back to Allahabad HC
“The Collegium of the Supreme Court should make a thorough inquiry. There's nothing wrong in transfer,” Aggarwala told ANI.
"Transfer is a normal thing and not a stigma. I am not admitting that there can be a situation of corruption because I feel that sometimes, people who are not getting favourable results may also plant. Here, I feel, when the judge himself and his family members were not there and such thing happened, including fire incident and video being made, there is suspicion," the senior advocate said.
Meanwhile, senior advocate Vikas Singh, who was also the former president of the SCBA, demanded an in-house inquiry. He said if the judge was unable to provide a justification for the discovered cash, the matter must be taken “seriously”.
Clarifying that he was not aware of the "facts" in this matter, senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal flagged the issue of corruption at large within the judiciary and society as “serious”.
"First of all, I am not aware of any of the facts. I have also read it in the newspaper. However, the issue of corruption within the judiciary is a very serious issue. This is not something that has been articulated by senior councils and lawyers in the country for the first time. It has been going on for years," Sibal told ANI.
Justice Yashwant Varma was currently heading a division bench, which was dealing with cases of sales tax, GST, company appeals and other appeals of the original side.
He was enrolled as an advocate on August 8, 1992. The judge was appointed as an additional judge of the Allahabad high court on October 13, 2014.
According to official information, he took oath as a permanent judge of the Allahabad high court on February 1, 2016, and was appointed as a judge of the Delhi High Court on October 11, 2021.
