Cash discovery row: Will Justice Yashwant Varma be impeached? Shah, Meghwal meet President Murmu

Cash discovery row: Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal called on President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday, 13 May.

"Union Minister for Home Affairs and Cooperation Shri Amit Shah, and Minister of State (IC) for Law and Justice and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan," the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

Sources said the meeting was held to set in motion the process for the impeachment of Justice Yashwant Varma, from whose residence a large sum of cash was recovered. Justice Varma has reportedly declined to resign as a high court judge, despite a Supreme Court-appointed in-house enquiry committee confirming the recovery of cash from his residence, according to sources.

On May 8, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna forwarded the findings of a three-judge in-house committee set up to investigate allegations of corruption against Justice Yashwant Varma to both the President and the Prime Minister of India. CJI Khanna retired on 13 May.

Ball in central govt's court

The ball is now in the court of the central government to take further action against Justice Varma, legal news website Bar and Bench reported. As per the rules, if a judge refuses to resign, the CJI has to intimate the President of India and the Prime Minister about the allegations and the in-house committee findings for initiation of the impeachment process.

The three-judge in-house committee of the Supreme Court had confirmed the presence of cash found at High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma’s residence during a fire on the night of 14 March, according to its report submitted to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna.

After finalising the report on 3 May, the three-member panel submitted it to the CJI. The panel consists of Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia, and Karnataka High Court Justice Anu Sivaraman.

A pile of cash was recovered from Justice Yashwant Varma's house after a fire broke out. Family members of the judge called emergency services, who then called the police. The incident happened on 14 March, during Holi celebrations.

On 20 March, the Supreme Court panel had proposed that Justice Varma, who was a judge of the Delhi High Court at the time, be transferred to Allahabad.

The proposal came after the cash was discovered. The apex court clarified that the “proposal for the transfer…is independent and separate from the in-house enquiry procedure” initiated by the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Justice DK Upadhyay, after receiving information about the cash discovery.

(With PTI inputs)