Cash-at-home row: SC rejects Justice Yashwant Varma’s plea; judge had challenged in-house inquiry | India News

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed Justice Yashwant Varma’s petition challenging the in-house inquiry process and its findings, which held him complicit in huge cash discovered from his official residence premises, and then CJI Sanjiv Khanna’s recommendation to the President and Prime Minister to initiate a removal motion against him.A bench of Justices Dipanakar Datta and A G Masih rejected every argument raised by senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Mukul Rohatgi on behalf of Justice Varma and said the inquiry process scrupulously adhered to the in-house procedure laid down by the SC in its judgments.Justice Datta, writing the judgment for the bench, said the in-house inquiry process is not parallel to the constitutional process to remove a constitutional court judge, and hence Sibal’s argument that it was unconstitutional holds no water.Questioning Justice Varma’s conduct and saying “it does not inspire confidence”, Justice Datta and Justice Masih said non-grant of hearing to the judge by then CJI prior to recommending his removal doesn’t violate any procedure as such hearing can’t be claimed as a matter of right.Earlier, the top court had reserved its order on Justice Varma’s petition on July 30.The top court was hearing Justice Varma’s plea seeking invalidation of a report by an in-house inquiry panel, which found him guilty of misconduct in the cash discovery matter. The in-house inquiry panel report indicted Justice Varma over the discovery of a huge cache of burnt cash from his official residence during his tenure as a Delhi HC judge.The case relates to the recovery of a large quantity of cash from an outhouse in Justice Varma’s official residence in Delhi on March 14. The cash was found during a fire-fighting operation at the premises. At the time, Justice Varma was serving as a judge of the Delhi high court. The Central government is reportedly planning to bring an impeachment motion in Parliament to remove Justice Varma from office.