SC dismisses plea for FIR against Justice Yashwant Varma in cash discovery row

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear a plea seeking an FIR against high court judge Yashwant Varma in connection with the discovery of cash from this official residence in the capital. A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said a press release issued by the top court on May 8 records that the chief justice of India forwarded the report of the in-house enquiry committee along with the judge's response to President and Prime Minister of India. "Before seeking the writ of mandamus, the petitioner will have to seek redressal of their grievance by filing representation before the appropriate authorities. Therefore, we decline to entertain this writ petition. At this stage it is not necessary to look into the other prayers," the bench said.

After an in-house inquiry panel indicted Varma, former CJI Sanjiv Khanna nudged him to resign. Khanna wrote to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Justice Varma, who was transferred from Delhi High Court to Allahabad High Court amid the row, refused to resign. The petition, filed by advocate Mathews Nedumpara and three others, called for immediate initiation of criminal proceedings, saying the in-house committee found the allegations against the judge prima facie true. The plea pointed out while the internal inquiry might lead to judicial disciplinary action, it was no substitute for a criminal investigation under the applicable statutes. In March, the same petitioners moved the apex court, challenging the in-house inquiry and demanding a formal police investigation. The top court, however, dismissed the plea as premature, citing the pending nature of the internal proceedings. With the conclusion of the inquiry, the petitioners contended delaying criminal action was no longer tenable.