New Delhi:
The Centre today confirmed the Supreme Court collegium’s decision to transfer Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, who is in the middle of an alleged cash stash row, to the Allahabad High Court.
The Supreme Court also asked the Allahabad High Court Chief Justice not to assign any judicial work to Justice Varma after he joins as a judge of the high court.
“The Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court for the time being has been asked not to assign any judicial work to Justice Yashwant Varma, when he assumes charge as a judge of the Allahabad High Court,” the Supreme Court said.
The Centre’s green light comes a day after Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna met heads of bar associations from six states including Delhi, Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Lucknow, and Prayagraj.
“In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 222 of the Constitution of India, the President, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, is pleased to transfer Shri Justice Yashwant Varma, Judge, Delhi High Court, to be a Judge of Allahabad High Court and to direct him to assume charge of his office in the Allahabad High Court,” the Union Law Ministry said in a notification today.
Lawyers of the Allahabad High Court have been protesting against Justice Varma’s transfer over what they claimed was a perception that the high court was a “dumping ground”.
The Supreme Court last week said the decision to transfer Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court was unrelated to the inquiry into the alleged cash stash row.
A fire at a structure on the premises of Justice Varma’s bungalow allegedly destroyed a huge pile of cash. Justice Varma in his response to the allegation indicated a conspiracy against him.
“In the life of a judge, nothing matters more than reputation and character. That has been severely tarnished and irreparably damaged. The baseless allegations that have been levelled against me have proceeded on mere innuendos and an unproven assumption that the cash allegedly seen and found belonged to me,” Justice Varma said in his reply to a three-member committee formed by Chief Justice Khanna to look into the matter.
One of the most vocal critics of the decision to transfer the Delhi judge is former Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi, who called for a thorough investigation. Mr Rohatgi, in an interview to NDTV, said the matter “does not look like an open and shut case”.
“I have never understood the statement that this transfer proposal has nothing to do with the cash scam. According to me, it is because of the cash scam that he is being proposed to be transferred… There are several loose ends in this case as of now which need to be answered. So I don’t think there is any great thing in saying that the transfer is not connected to the scam. I’m actually mystified by this statement of the Supreme Court,” Mr Rohatgi told NDTV, referring to a press note by the Supreme Court that said the transfer was not linked to the cash stash row.
