NEW DELHI: Amid reports about the transfer of Justice Yashwant Varma of the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court following the alleged recovery of unaccounted cash at his residence during a fire incident, the Supreme Court on Friday sought to dispel “misinformation and rumours”, saying the transfer proposal was still under consideration.
In a statement, the top court clarified that the proposal to transfer Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court was not linked to the in-house inquiry initiated by the Delhi High Court Chief Justice.
“The proposal for the transfer of Justice Yashwant Varma, who is the second senior-most judge in the Delhi High Court and a member of the Collegium, to his parent HC i.e. the High Court of judicature at Allahabad, where he will be ninth in seniority, is independent and separate from the in-house inquiry procedure,” the statement read.
“The proposal was examined by the Collegium comprising of the Chief Justice of India and four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court on March 20, and thereafter, letters were written to the consultee judges of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justices of the HCs concerned and Justice Yashwant Varma. Responses received will be examined and thereupon, the Collegium will pass a resolution,” it said, adding, “There is misinformation and rumours being spread with regard to the incident at the residence of Justice Varma.”
The top court statement clarified that on receiving the information, the Chief Justice of the Delhi HC commenced the in-house inquiry procedure collecting evidence and information.
“The Chief Justice of the Delhi HC, who had commenced his inquiry prior to the Collegium meeting on March 20, will be submitting his report to the CJI today i.e. on March 21. The report will be examined and processed for further and necessary action,” it said.
In a fresh twist to the controversy, Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg on Friday said firefighters found no cash during their operation to put out fire at Justice Varma’s residence.
The fire broke out in a storeroom stocked with stationery and other articles at the judge’s residence at 11.35 pm on March 14. Two fire tenders reached the spot at 11.43 pm and doused the fire in 15 minutes.