Refusing to bow to strain to resign or go for voluntary retirement within the wake of an issue over the invention of money at his #Delhi residence earlier this 12 months, #Justice Yashwant Varma instructed the then Chief #Justice of #India (CJI), #Sanjiv Khanna final month, that doing so would imply accepting a “fundamentally unjust” course of that denied him even a private listening to. #Justice Yashwant Varma In a strongly worded letter dated May 6 , copy of which has been seen by #Hindustan Times, justice Varma declined the then CJI’s recommendation, issued in a May 4 communication, to step down or search retirement, and as a substitute flagged critical violations of procedural equity. The CJI’s letter was delivered to him simply hours after he obtained the findings of a three-judge in-house panel that discovered him chargeable for misconduct, and in response, justice Varma decried the compressed timeline of simply 48 hours given to make a life-altering determination. “To accept such advice would imply my acquiescence to a process and outcome that I respectfully consider to be fundamentally unjust and requiring reconsideration and review,” justice Varma wrote within the letter addressed to #Justice Khanna. “You will appreciate that I have served the institution for more than 11 years. A decision such as the one your letter advises me to take necessarily entails due deliberation and thought which cannot and ought not to be restricted to a 48-hour window,” it added. The letter underscored that the denial of a private listening to even after the in-house committee concluded its fact-finding inquiry was a transparent departure from earlier precedents and the rules of pure justice. “I respectfully note that at no point during the inquiry was I informed of the Committee’s preliminary or tentative views regarding the evidence it had gathered. Consequently, I was never afforded a meaningful opportunity to address the specific allegations or case ultimately tabled in the Report,” the choose mentioned. The controversy started on March 14 when a fireplace broke out on the outhouse of justice Varma’s official residence in #Delhi. Firefighters reportedly discovered charred forex notes stuffed in sacks. The chief justice of the #Delhi High Court flagged the matter to then CJI Khanna, who constituted a three-judge inquiry committee on March 22 comprising #Justices Sheel #Nagu (then Punjab & #Haryana Chief #Justice), GS Sandhawalia (then Himachal Pradesh Chief #Justice), and Anu Sivaraman (Karnataka High Court). The panel submitted its report on May 3, concluding that justice Varma was chargeable for misconduct. On May 8, the Supreme Court issued a press launch stating that justice Varma had submitted his response however had reiterated his earlier stand and denied wrongdoing, calling the incident a “conspiracy.” #Justice Varma was subsequently divested of judicial work and transferred to his mother or father excessive court docket in Allahabad. A letter by justice Khanna was additionally despatched to the President and Prime Minister, enclosing the inquiry report and requesting motion. The matter, in the meantime, acquired political overtones. Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju confirmed that the federal government had reached out to the Opposition for help in initiating a movement through the upcoming monsoon session. The movement for his removing is predicted to be launched by regulation minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. Complicating issues additional, Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar questioned the constitutional sanctity of the in-house panel’s findings at a public occasion on May 19. Calling the method “inconsequential,” Dhankhar advocated a proper legal investigation as a substitute. In his May 6 letter, justice Varma referred to the case of justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta excessive court docket as a precedent the place alternatives for interplay and illustration had been offered not simply to the committee but in addition to the Supreme Court collegium. “Even after a finding of serious misconduct was rendered by the In-House Committee and advice was rendered by the then Hon’ble CJI, justice Sen was granted sufficient time to examine the report, submit his written representation and afforded a personal hearing before the then Hon’ble CJI and two senior-most Judges of the Hon’ble Supreme Court,” justice Varma famous. The May 4 letter from justice Khanna conveyed that he was “satisfied” with the conclusions of the in-house committee, which mentioned unexplained money was discovered at justice Varma’s official residence and that his rationalization lacked credibility. The letter suggested him to resign or take voluntary retirement inside 48 hours, failing which the panel’s report can be forwarded to the President and the Prime Minister. But justice Varma, in his response, pleaded for extra time to submit an in depth illustration and requested a possibility for a private listening to. “I am confident that had your Lordship in fact reviewed these documents, you would have been equally distraught over the fundamental unfairness of the procedure adopted and the fundamentally flawed nature of the findings reflected in the Report,” he wrote. “It has therefore become imperative for me to place on record my pain, anguish and profound concerns about the manner in which I have been dealt with,” the choose added. In his concluding remarks, justice Varma emphasised that he reserved his proper to “take such action as may be necessary to protect my honour and dignity” and requested that confidentiality across the report be maintained as per previous follow and settled regulation.

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