Justice Yashwant Varma has refused to resign as the High Court judge even after his indictment by an in-house committee that probed the allegations of cash discovery at his official residence in Delhi.According to sources, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna on receiving the report of the in-house committee had asked Justice Varma to resign or face impeachment proceedings.However, since Justice Varma declined to quit the judgeship, CJI Khanna has now forwarded the report and the judge's response on it, to the President of India and the Prime Minister for removal of the judge. .This is per the in-house procedure under which the CJI is required to report the matter to the President and Prime Minister for removal of the judge who refuses to resign even after adverse findings of the inquiry panel.This would mean that the ball is now in the court of the government and the parliament and they can initiate impeachment of the judge. .The committee that probed Justice Varma comprised Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal High Court Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Karnataka High Court Justice Anu Sivaraman. The panel had started the probe on March 25 and submitted its report to CJI Khanna on May 4..A fire at Justice Varma's house on the evening of March 14 had allegedly led to the recovery of unaccounted cash by the fire fighters. Justice Varma and his wife were not in Delhi then and were travelling in Madhya Pradesh. Only his daughter and aged mother were at home when the fire broke out. A video later surfaced showing bundles of cash burning in the fire..The incident led to allegations of corruption against Justice Varma, who denied the accusations and said that it appeared to be a conspiracy to frame him. The CJI then initiated an in-house probe into the allegations and set up the three-member committee on March 22 to conduct the inquiry.The video of the burnt cash was shared by the Delhi Police Commissioner with the Chief Justice of the High Court. It was then made public by the Supreme Court, which also in an unprecedented development published a preliminary report of Delhi High Court Chief Justice on the incident along with Justice Varma's response..Following the allegations, Justice Varma was sent back to his parent High Court, the Allahabad High Court, where he recently was administered oath of office. However, the judicial work of the judge has been temporarily taken away on instructions of the CJI. The Allahabad High Court Bar Association had earlier gone on strike to protest Justice Varma's repatriation. Considering the pendency of the in-house probe, the Supreme Court on the judicial side refused to entertain a plea seeking the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Justice Varma.Soon after the in-house probe started, Justice Varma reportedly sought legal advice from a team of senior lawyers.
