Cash discovery row: Apex court to constitute bench to hear Justice Yashwant Varma’s plea

New Delhi, July 23: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would constitute a bench to hear Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma’s plea seeking to invalidate a report by an in-house inquiry panel, which found him guilty of misconduct in the cash discovery row.
Justice Varma has also sought quashing of the May 8 recommendation by then CJI Sanjiv Khanna urging Parliament to initiate impeachment against him. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who mentioned the matter for Justice Varma, said the plea was in respect of recommendation made by the then CJI for removal of Justice Varma.
“We have raised some constitutional issues. I request your lordships to list it as early as possible,” he said.
The CJI said, “I will have to constitute a bench”.
He said it might not be proper for him to take up the matter as he was also a part of the process. “We will take a call and constitute a bench,” the CJI told Sibal. In his petition, Justice Varma submitted that the inquiry “reversed the burden of proof”, requiring him to investigate and disprove the charges levelled against him.
Alleging that the panel’s findings were based on a preconceived narrative, Justice Varma said the inquiry timelines were driven solely by the urge to conclude proceedings swiftly, even at the expense of “procedural fairness”.
The petition contended that the inquiry panel drew adverse findings without affording him a full and fair hearing. (PTI)