Cash-at-home row: Supreme Court to hear Justice Yashwant Varma plea against indictment on July 28 – India Legal

The Supreme Courtroom will hear on July 28, the writ petition filed by Allahabad Excessive Courtroom decide Justice Yashwant Varma difficult the in-house inquiry committee’s report that indicted him over the alleged restoration of an enormous sum of unaccounted money from his official residence in Delhi.

The 2-judge Bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Augustine George Masih will hear the matter.

On July 23, a battery of attorneys, together with Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal, Mukul Rohatgi, ⁠Rakesh Dwivedi, ⁠Sidharth Luthra and ⁠Siddharth Aggarwal, together with Advocates George Pothan Poothicote and Manisha Singh, talked about the matter earlier than the Bench of Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai, Justice Okay Vinod Chandran and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. 

They sought pressing itemizing on the grounds that the petition raised some constitutional points.

CJI Gavai recused himself from listening to the matter, saying that he was a part of the committee, in all probability referring to his involvement within the means of initiating in-house motion in opposition to Justice Varma through the tenure of former CJI Sanjiv Khanna.

The Bench stated it might take a name and represent a Bench for listening to the matter.

Earlier this month, Justice Varma moved the Apex Courtroom in opposition to his indictment. The transfer adopted the latest resolution of the Union authorities to convey an impeachment movement within the Parliament for his elimination from workplace.

The petitioner requested the Apex Courtroom to declare as unconstitutional and extremely vires, the advice made by former CJI Sanjiv Khanna for his elimination as a Excessive Courtroom decide.

Assailing the previous CJI’s letter to the President and the Prime Minister recommending his elimination, the decide claimed this bypassed constitutional process and legislative safeguards underneath Articles 124 and 218.

He additional challenged the in-house process on inquiry into complaints in opposition to judges on the grounds that it created an extra-constitutional and parallel mechanism, derogating from the regulation that solely vested the ability for elimination of Excessive Courtroom judges within the Parliament.Courtroom calendarsJudge session providers

The In-Home process didn’t have the safeguards as offered underneath the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968. Because the process was administrative in nature and never grounded in statute or the Structure, it couldn’t be used to advocate elimination from constitutional workplace, famous Justice Varma.

He additional contended that the panel initiated probe in opposition to him with none formal criticism, primarily based solely on presumptions and unverified info. This was opposite to the very design and goal of the in-house process, he added.Decide session providers

The Excessive Courtroom decide claimed that the Supreme Courtroom’s press launch, issued on March 22, 2025, publicly disclosed the allegations in opposition to him. This led to intense media hypothesis, harming his fame and violating his proper to dignity.

Justice Varma additionally raised objection to the leaking and misrepresentation of contents of the confidential last report within the media, additional damaging his fame and undermining the sanctity of the method.

As per the decide, the Committee denied him entry to proof, withheld CCTV footage, and provided no likelihood to rebut allegations. Key witnesses had been examined in his absence, violating pure justice.

He additional alleged that the panel ignored core questions like who positioned the money, whether or not it was real, or what prompted the hearth. These questions had been central to establishing guilt or innocence, he famous.

As per Justice Varma, the in-house panel made sweeping conclusions with out concrete proof. It relied on presumptions and didn’t discharge the burden of proving critical misconduct.

The petitioner additional submitted that inside hours of receiving the ultimate report, the CJI requested him to resign or face elimination. No private interplay or alternative was given to elucidate his case.Decide session providers

Justice Varma recalled that earlier judges in comparable conditions had been granted private hearings earlier than any motion. The deviation on this case was arbitrary and violated established conventions, he added.

The incident befell on March 14 this yr, when Justice Varma was serving as a sitting decide on the Delhi Excessive Courtroom. Whereas extinguishing a fireplace at his official residence, hearth fighters recovered a big sum of unaccounted money from his outhouse. The decide and his spouse weren’t in Delhi then. Solely his daughter and aged mom had been at residence through the time of the incident.

A video later surfaced exhibiting bundles of money burning within the hearth.

The incident led to allegations of corruption in opposition to Justice Varma. The decide refuted the fees and claimed it to be a conspiracy to border him. On March 22, the then CJI Sanjiv Khanna established a three-member committee to conduct an in-house probe in opposition to the sitting Excessive Courtroom decide.

Justice Varma was repatriated to his dad or mum Excessive Courtroom, the Allahabad Excessive Courtroom, the place he was lately administered the oath of workplace. The judicial work of the decide, nevertheless, has been briefly taken away on directions of the CJI.

The in-house panel, comprising Punjab and Haryana Excessive Courtroom Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal Excessive Courtroom Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Karnataka Excessive Courtroom Justice Anu Sivaraman, began the probe on March 25 and concluded the identical on Might 3.

The committee positioned its report earlier than then CJI Khanna on Might 4, indicting Justice Varma. The then CJI Khanna forwarded the report back to the President and the Prime Minister, recommending Justice Varma’s impeachment.