Supreme Court Declines Plea for FIR Against Justice Varma Amid Cash Row

The Supreme Court has declined to entertain a plea seeking an FIR against high court judge Yashwant Varma following the discovery of cash at his official residence. The bench, composed of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, highlighted the existing procedures in place as outlined in a press release from May 8.

This press release noted that the then Chief Justice of India had forwarded a report from an in-house inquiry committee, along with Justice Varma's response, to the President and Prime Minister of India. The court advised the petitioner to seek alternative grievances redressal mechanisms before pursuing a writ petition.

Despite an in-house inquiry panel indicting Justice Varma, who was subsequently transferred to the Allahabad High Court, and pressure from former CJI Sanjiv Khanna for his resignation, the apex court determined that the criminal investigation demanded in the petition was premature, as internal processes had not yet concluded.

(With inputs from agencies.)