SC PANEL SAYS 'MISCONDUCT PROVED', PROPOSES REMOVAL

Report says judge and his family members had 'covert or active control' over the store room

- JUSTICE (RED.) SAKHA RAM SINGH

High court judge Yashwant Varma, and his family members had "covert or active control" over the store room where a huge cache of half-burnt cash was found, proving his misconduct which is serious enough to seek his removal, a report of the inquiry panel probing the incident said.

The three-judge panel headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu of the Punjab and Haryana High Court conducted the inquiry for 10 days, examined 55 witnesses and visited the scene of the accidental fire that started at around 11.35 pm on March 14 at the official residence Justice Varma, then a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court and now in the Allahabad High Court.

Acting on the report, former Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna wrote to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi recommending the judge's impeachment.