Supreme Court Declines PIL for FIR Against Delhi High Court Judge
The Supreme Court of India on Friday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) aimed at registering a First Information Report (FIR) and launching an investigation into the reported discovery of cash at the official residence of Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma. The court cited an ongoing in-house inquiry as the reason for its decision.
According to the Supreme Court’s cause list for Friday, a bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan heard the matter. The preceding Wednesday, a bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna had denied an urgent hearing after lawyer Mathews J Nedumpara raised the issue. Nedumpara, along with three others, had filed the plea on Sunday, requesting a directive for the police to register an FIR concerning the alleged cash discovery. The petition also challenged a 1991 Supreme Court judgment in the K Veeraswami case, which established that no criminal proceedings could be initiated against a High Court or Supreme Court judge without prior approval from the Chief Justice of India.
Cash Discovery at Judge’s Residence
The alleged cash discovery followed a fire that broke out at Justice Varma’s Lutyens Delhi residence around 11:35 PM on March 14, prompting fire officers to respond to the scene.
On Tuesday, three members of a Supreme Court-appointed in-house committee visited Justice Varma’s residence to initiate an inquiry into the matter. Following the controversy, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended that Justice Varma be repatriated to his parent Allahabad High Court. Additionally, Justice Varma was de-rostered by the Delhi High Court at the directive of the Chief Justice of India.
On March 22, the Chief Justice of India established a three-member committee to conduct an in-house inquiry and decided to make the inquiry report—along with photos and videos of the alleged cash discovery—accessible on the Supreme Court’s website. In response to the allegations, Justice Varma has firmly denied any wrongdoing, asserting that no cash was ever placed in the storeroom by him or his family members.