New Delhi, July 28: In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that the petition seeking registration of an FIR against Justice Yashwant Varma be placed before the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India for assignment to an appropriate Bench after Justice Sheel Nagu recused himself from hearing the matter.
The petition, filed by Advocate Ghanshyam Upadhyay, was listed at Serial No. 5 before a Bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheel Nagu.
Adv. Nilesh Ojha appeared online on behalf of the petitioner, while a junior advocate present in Court requested a passover to enable Adv. Ghanshyam Upadhyay to join the proceedings.
However, before granting any passover or entering into the merits of the matter, Justice Sheel Nagu observed that he had been a member of the three-judge in-house committee constituted by the Supreme Court to inquire into the cash discovery allegations concerning Justice Yashwant Varma. In view of his prior involvement in the in-house inquiry, Justice Sheel Nagu recused himself from hearing the case.
Consequently, the Bench directed that the matter shall not be listed before any Bench of which Justice Sheel Nagu is a member and ordered the Registry to place the case before the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India for appropriate administrative orders regarding listing before another Bench.
The petition seeks registration of an FIR and initiation of criminal proceedings against Justice Yashwant Varma in connection with the alleged discovery of burnt currency notes worth several crores of rupees at his official residence. Following the incident, a three-member in-house committee constituted by the Supreme Court conducted an inquiry and submitted its report containing adverse findings against Justice Varma. Acting on the basis of that report, the Supreme Court recommended that proceedings for his removal by impeachment be initiated, and the recommendation was forwarded to the competent constitutional authorities for further action. In the meantime, all judicial work was withdrawn from Justice Varma, following which he tendered his resignation.
Against this backdrop, the petition raises important legal questions regarding the interplay between the judiciary’s in-house disciplinary mechanism for examining judicial misconduct and the ordinary criminal law process, particularly whether the in-house inquiry can substitute or preclude the registration of an FIR and an independent criminal investigation into allegations disclosing cognizable offences.
Following today’s order, the Registry will place the matter before the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, who will take an administrative decision regarding assignment of the case to an appropriate Bench for hearing on its merits.