SC Rejects Varma's Plea on Panel Report

The Supreme Court on Thursday (August 7) dismissed a plea by Justice Yashwant Varma seeking quashing of the in-house panel report against him. The apex court held that Justice Varma's plea should not be entertained, given his conduct.

A huge amount of cash was discovered at Justice Varma's official residence in New Delhi following a fire incident in March this year. He was a judge at the Delhi High Court at the time of incident. He was later transferred to the Allahabad High Court.

The top court held that the procedure followed for in-house inquiry does have legal sanction. It observed that the then Chief Justice of India (CJI) and in-house panel scrupulously followed procedure.

A Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and AG Masih noted

that the release of video, photos (of half burnt cash) by the court was not in line with the procedure.

The court observed that it was not unconstitutional for the CJI to refer the in-house panel report to the President and Prime Minister.

The top court had earlier told Justice Varma that his conduct did not inspire confidence and also defended the CJI's authority to act on any judicial misconduct, saying he cannot be merely a "post office but has certain duties to the nation".

The Supreme Court

appointed in-house panel had indicted Justice Varma on the issue of half-burnt cash at residence. The CJI had referred in-house panel report to the President and the Prime Minister with a recommendation for Justice Varma's removal.

The Parliament is likely to consider a motion to impeach Justice Varma in the cash row case.