SC grills judge Varma

The Supreme Court Monday grilled Allahabad High Court's Justice Yashwant Varma for challenging findings of an in-house inquiry panel report against him over the incident of cash discovery from his official residence and asked how could he question it after participating in the process.

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

The in-house inquiry panel report indicted Justice Varma over the discovery of huge cache of burnt cash from his official residence during his tenure as a Delhi High Court judge.

A bench comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and A G Masih asked Justice Varma why did he wait for the inquiry to be completed and the report be released.

“Why did you appear before the inquiry committee? Did you come to the court that the video be removed? Why did you wait for the inquiry to be completed and the report be released? Did you take a chance of a favourable order there first (sic),” a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and A G Masih asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who was representing Justice Varma.

Sibal said the appearance before the committee couldn’t be held against him. “I appeared because I thought committee would find out who the cash belongs to,” Sibal said.

The top court was hearing a plea Justice Varma's plea seeking invalidation of a report by an in-house inquiry panel which found him guilty of misconduct in the cash discovery matter.