New Delhi: Govt on Friday notified the transfer of Justice Yashwant Varma from Delhi high court to his parent Allahabad HC even as Supreme Court refused to entertain a PIL seeking an FIR against the judge from whose house piles of cash were allegedly recovered.
Sources also told TOI that Delhi Police had sought CJI Sanjiv Khanna’s permission for registration of an FIR to investigate whether the money belonged to Justice Varma or had been planted there to defame him.
Refusing to entertain a PIL by advocate Mathews J Nedumpara seeking registration of FIR against Justice Varma, a bench of Justices A S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said since the in-house inquiry was proceeding at a fast pace, “we must await its report and at this stage it is not necessary for us to go into that aspect”.
“After the in-house inquiry is over, several options are open. If the report indicates something is wrong, the CJI can direct registration of FIR and recommend initiation of removal motion in Parliament. Otherwise, he can close the case,” the bench told Nedumpara, and added that it would be premature to even consider the PIL while the in-house inquiry was on.
Nedumpara said everyone wanted to know why the law applicable to common man was not applied in case of the judge, why no FIR was registered, and why no arrest was made. But the bench persisted with its view and said, “Let the ongoing process be over.”
Sources told TOI that Delhi Police had sought CJI Khanna’s permission for registration of an FIR. However, the CJI, it is learnt, chose the procedure laid down by the judgments of SC that warranted setting in motion an inquiry panel.
The panel comprises chief justices of the HCs of Punjab & Haryana and Himachal Pradesh — Justices Sheel Nagu and G S Sandhawalia — and Karnataka HC’s Justice Anu Sivaraman. Sources said the inquiry panel is likely to submit its report by the end of the first week of April.
Meanwhile, govt acted fast on the SC collegium’s March 24 recommendation to repatriate Justice Varma to Allahabad HC and notified his transfer on Friday. Immediately after the govt notified Justice Varma’s transfer, the CJI wrote to the Allahabad HC chief justice asking him not to assign the repatriated judge any judicial work.
The collegium had recommended Justice Varma’s transfer to ensure that he does not remain in Delhi when the inquiry proceeds beyond his deposition before the panel. The committee will examine the call data records of Justice Varma’s phones with the help of experts.
Govt on Friday also notified the repatriation of Justice C D Singh to Allahabad HC acting on a five-month-old recommendation of the collegium headed by CJI Khanna. The collegium had on Thursday recommended transfer of Delhi HC’s Justice D K Sharma to Calcutta HC.