New Delhi [India], May 21: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a plea demanding the registration of an FIR against Justice Yashwant Varma over allegations related to the discovery of burnt cash at his residence.
A bench headed by Justice Abhay S Oka advised the petitioner, Advocate Mathews J Nedumpara, to first submit a formal representation to the Prime Minister and the President of India before seeking judicial intervention.
“File representation before those authorities first calling them to take action, then file writ seeking mandamus,” the bench remarked while dismissing the plea.
The Court pointed out that, according to a Supreme Court press release dated May 8, an in-house inquiry committee had already submitted its report, which had been forwarded to the Prime Minister and the President for further action.
Justice Oka emphasized that even the contents of the report remain undisclosed to the public as well as the bench. “You don’t know the contents of the report, even we don’t know. The CJI has sent the report to the Prime Minister and President,” he stated.
The Court thus declined to consider the plea at this stage, noting that official procedures had already been set in motion and the appropriate course would be to wait for the response of the executive authorities.
Earlier, on May 4, the internal inquiry panel submitted its findings to the then Chief Justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna. The three-member committee included Justice Sheel Nagu (Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court), Justice GS Sandhawalia (Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court), and Justice Anu Sivaraman (Judge of Karnataka High Court).
The committee, formed on March 22, was tasked with investigating the allegations concerning Justice Yashwant Varma, then a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court. Notably, on April 5, Justice Varma was sworn in as a judge of the Allahabad High Court under what were described as unusual and contentious circumstances.