Justice Varma probe disclosure sparks internal judicial debate

NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna decided to make public the reported video evidence of cash found at justice Yashwant Varma's residence and disclosed the judge's response without prior consultation or any informal dialogue with other collegium members, according to people aware of the development, who added that at least two collegium members believe that move was "not necessary".

- Utkarsh Anand

The Supreme Court collegium, which comprises CJI Khanna and justices Bhushan R Gavai, Surya Kant, Abhay S Oka and Vikram Nath, was informed about the reported discovery of cash on March 20-six days after a fire incident at justice Varma's residence on March 14. However, the people cited above indicated that the decision to set up an in-house inquiry and make the initial inquiry report public was made solely by the CJI without formal or informal deliberations with his collegium colleagues.

One of the persons cited above told HT that at least two collegium judges feel that making the video and other parts of the initial report public was "not necessary" since the in-house inquiry had yet to be conducted. "Justice should not only be done but seem to be done," said this person, adding that these two judges believed that the details made public should have been left to the in-house panel to examine first.

"About the video that shows some burnt cash piles, they feel that an unauthenticated video with no attribution or verification need not have been made public because it may create a certain impression without even testing the veracity and source of that video," said another person aware of the developments.

While all collegium members agree that swift action was required to protect judicial integrity, some feel a more measured approach was warranted. "The purpose of the in-house inquiry panel must not become redundant due to the noise created by making all records public. Every person deserves a fair chance to be heard," said another source.