The Marketing campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reform(CJAR) has known as for an FIR in opposition to former decide Justice Yashwant Varma of the Allahabad Excessive Courtroom. This comes within the wake of the Lok Sabha Inquiry Committee report indicting Justice Varma on all three prices in relation to the unaccounted money discovered at his official residence throughout a hearth incident.
CJAR has supported the choice of the committee to desk its report on the findings regardless of the resignation of Justice Varma in April 2026. In an announcement launched by CJAR, it stated: “We consider that this transfer promotes transparency and ensures a measure of accountability for the actions of Justice (Retd.) Varma. We’re pleased to notice the speaker undoing the unlucky precedent set within the case of Justice P. D. Dinakaran whereby impeachment proceedings had been delivered to an finish merely as a result of the decide involved resigned.”
Consequent to his resignation and the findings of the Inquiry Committee, CJAR has acknowledged that the immunity in opposition to the decide has ceased to exist and due to this fact there is no such thing as a requirement for sanction from the Chief Justice of India to lodge an FIR in opposition to Justice Varma as per the Veeraswami judgment(1991).
“After his resignation, Justice Varma ceases to benefit from the safety of the Veeraswami judgement, and due to this fact, there is no such thing as a requirement of permission of the Chief Justice of India for resignation of an FIR in opposition to him. Nevertheless, because the investigative authorities haven’t registered any FIR but, in gentle of the Inquiry Committee’s report and the report of the three-judge committee constituted beneath the in-house process, we name upon the Chief Justice of India to direct the submitting of a First Info Report with the Delhi Police looking for an investigation into the unaccounted money discovered on the residence of Justice (Retd.) Varma.”
It has stated that the costs proved in opposition to Justice Varma should not merely on “misconduct” beneath the Judges Inquiry Act for the aim of elimination however can be a foundation for prison proceedings. Subsequently, it has urged that an FIR ought to be registered in opposition to the previous decide and ought to be overseen by the Supreme Courtroom to revive the general public’s confidence within the judiciary.
CJAR has additionally solid questions on why the Allahabad Excessive Courtroom web site continues to point out him as a sitting decide. It has known as upon the Excessive Courtroom to change its web site to keep away from confusion. “Although Justice Varma has resigned, we’re shocked that the Allahabad Excessive Courtroom web site continues to point out him as a sitting decide. We name upon the Excessive Courtroom to vary this element and keep away from confusion,” it stated.
CJAR had earlier issued an announcement welcoming the choice taken by then Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna to place in the public domain necessary info on the allegations concerning discovery of money at Justice Yashwant Varma’s residence. It stated that the disclosure quelled rumour-mongering. “Transparency in dealing with severe allegations of corruption or misconduct is indispensable to public belief within the increased judiciary – an establishment whose functioning has too typically been marked by opacity,” it had stated.
