Supreme Court Confirms Transfer Of Judge In Cash-At-Home Row, To Allahabad High Court

Justice Yashwant Varma, the sitting judge of the Delhi High Court from whose house a stash of burnt cash was allegedly recovered on Holi, should be transferred to the Allahabad High Court, the Supreme Court Collegium has recommended. The ball is now in the court of the Centre, which can issue a formal order. 

The Supreme Court, during its meetings held on March 20 and 24, recommended the transfer to Justice Varma's parent court. The move came amid stiff opposition from the Allahabad High Court Bar Association and criticism that any decision on his transfer should be made after an investigation. Demanding a withdrawal of the decision, the lawyers have decided to go on indefinite strike from tomorrow.

The cash recovery -- made late on the evening of Holi, March 14 -- was commented on by the Supreme Court on Saturday after it decided to transfer the judge. 

On March 20, the Supreme Court Collegium had proposed sending Justice Varma back to Allahabad High Court and its recommendation to the Center was sent on March 24.

The top court has ordered a probe into the matter, forming a three-member team comprising the Chief Justices of the Punjab and Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Karnataka High Courts. 

It has also clarified that the transfer is independent of the cash recovery. The top court's statement regarding the transfer does not mention any reason for it, fanning skepticism in the legal circle.  Many senior lawyers have expressed the opinion that the transfer be put on hold till the matter is investigated.

"I never understood this statement (of the Supreme Court) that this transfer has nothing to do with the cash scam. According to me, it is because of the cash scam that he is proposed to be transferred," said former Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi. 

"We should come to the bottom of the issue -- whether the judge is delinquent, is he guilty of moral turpitude or he is not and his reputation is being blackened," he added.  

"In my personal view, his transfer should now be put on hold. Because if he (Justice Varma) was being transferred not because of this but because of other administrative reasons, the two issues have got joined at the hip. If the allegations against him are false, it is very unfair to him to transfer him and if they are true, then a transfer is too little," said former Solicitor General Harish Salve.

On Saturday, the top court -- in an unprecedented move in the interest of transparency -- uploaded the report on the matter submitted by Delhi High Court Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya along with photos and videos on its website. 

The burnt cash was allegedly discovered from a store room near the servants' quarters of the judge's bungalow by the fire service team that had turned up to douse a fire. 

Justice Varma -- who was in Bhopal at the time along with his wife -- has denied that anyone from his family was involved. The money, he said, was found in a room that was "accessed by all and sundry".