Judicial work from Justice Yashwant Varma, whose official residence was the site of an alleged large stash of cash discovered after a fire, has been withdrawn with 'immediate effect' till further order, the Delhi High Court announced on Monday, Bar and Bench reported.
Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday called a meeting with Leader of the House J P Nadda and Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge for a structured discussion on the issue of judicial accountability and the NJAC Act.
"In view of recent events, the judicial work from Hon'ble Mr. Justice yashwant Varma is withdrawn with immediate effect, till further orders," the court's notification states as shared by Bar and Bench.
The announcement was made in a note issued by the High Court.
In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court on March 22 uploaded on its website the investigation report - along with photographs and videos - of Delhi High Court Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyay into the alleged recovery of huge amounts of cash from Justice Verma's residence.
Justice Upadhyaya's report to the CJI contains material with regard to official communication that says "four to five semi-burnt sacks of Indian currency notes" were found from the judge's Lutyens' Delhi residence.
Jagdeep Dhankar Calls Meeting
Amid the ongoing controversy over the cash recovery from Justice Yashwant Varma's official residence, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar called a meeting with the Leader of the House, JP Nadda, and the Leader of the Opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge.
The meeting aims to discuss the constitutional and legislative issues he raised in response to points brought up by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh sought the Speaker's response on judicial accountability and reminded him about the pending notice regarding the impeachment of an Allahabad High Court judge.
Chairman Dhankhar had referred to the mechanism for judicial appointments after the passage of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act 2014 on March 21. The law was later struck down by the Supreme Court.
On March 21, Dhankhar told the Rajya Sabha, "You all will recollect the mechanism which was passed by this House with near unanimity, with no dissension, only one abstention in the Rajya Sabha, all political parties converging and going in for the initiative of the government, as quoted by PTI.
"I wish to find out the status of that which emanated from Indian Parliament made sacrosanct by the endorsement of 16 state assemblies in the country and signed by the Hon'ble President under article 111 of the Constitution," he had said.
"That historic legislation endorsed by this Parliament with unprecedented consensual support unknown to the parliamentary history of this country dealt with the malaise very severely. If the malaise had been dealt with perhaps we would not have countenanced such kind of issues. What bothers me is that the incident happened and did not immediately surface," the chairman had further observed.
Justice Varma Denounced The Allegations
Justice Varma has strongly denounced the allegations in the currency-discovery row and said no cash was ever placed in the storeroom of his residence either by him or any of his family members.
In his response to the Delhi High Court CJ, Justice Varma has said the allegation of cash discovery from his residence clearly appears to be a "conspiracy to frame and malign him".
