NEW DELHI: A three-member Supreme Court-appointed in-house committee on Tuesday started its inquiry into the matter related to alleged discovery of cash pile at official residence of Delhi High Court's judge Justice Yashwant Varma here earlier this month.
The committee members, Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Justice G S Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, and Anu Sivaraman, Judge of the High Court of Karnataka, reached Justice Varma's official residence at 30, Tughlak Crescent in the National capital's at around 1pm.
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The three judges were inside the official residence of Justice Varma for around 45 minutes and inspected the site thoroughly. The members examined the room where the unaccounted stash of cash was allegedly discovered, sources said.
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A fire incident at the judge's house on March 14-15 had inadvertently led to the discovery of alleged cash pile, sending shock waves across the country.The Supreme Court Collegium on March 24 had recommended repatriation of Justice Varma to the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad. The judicial work had already been withdrawn from him.
Justice Yashwant Varma Denies Allegations Amid Supreme Court Inquiry
In his response, Justice Varma had vehemently denied all the allegations levelled against him.He claimed that the room which caught fire and where cash was allegedly found was an outhouse and not the main building where the judge and family resided.
"I state unequivocally that no cash was ever placed in that storeroom either by me or any of my family members and strongly denounce the suggestion that the alleged cash belonged to us. The very idea or suggestion that this cash was kept or stored by us is totally preposterous," he said.
The suggestion that one would store cash in an open, freely accessible and commonly used storeroom near the staff quarters or in an outhouse verges on the "incredible and incredulous", Justice Varma claimed.
