Cash recovery case: Supreme Court junks PIL seeking FIR against Justice Varma, terms it ‘premature’

(Photo Credit :

CNBC-TV18

)

The Supreme Court on Friday (March 28) refused to consider a PIL seeking FIR against Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma in the alleged cash recovery case. The court has termed the plea as “premature”.

The apex court held that the inquiry as per in-house procedure is already underway. It said after report is furnished, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) will have several options like seeking resignation, FIR and others.

The top court observed that at this stage of inquiry, it is “not appropriate” to entertain PIL.

The PIL termed the discovery of cash as a cognisable offence under Bharatiya Nyay Samhita and sought the registration of FIR against Justice Varma.

The plea challenged the court’s 1991 judgment that held that no FIR can be filed against the judge of Supreme Court or High Court without the CJI’s approval.

The plea argued that the three-judge committee constituted to probe Justice Varma should be discontinued. It said Delhi Police should be allowed to investigate without interference.

On March 22, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) constituted the three-member committee to conduct an in-house inquiry into allegations and decided to upload the inquiry report of Chief Justice DK Upadhyay of the Delhi High Court in the incident. It included photos and videos of the alleged discovery of a huge stash of cash.

Justice Varma denounced the allegations and said no cash was ever placed in the storeroom either by him or any of his family members. The alleged cash discovery happened following a fire at Varma’s Lutyens Delhi residence at around 11.35 pm on March 14, prompting the fire officers to rush to the spot.