Allahabad High Court Bar Will Refrain From Judicial Work Indefinitely In Protest Against The Transfer Of Justice Yashwant Varma To Allahabad
By Rajesh Pandey
On a call given by the Allahabad High Court Bar Association (HCBA), the lawyers of Allahabad High Court on Monday boycotted the judicial work after lunch and also decided to abstain from judicial work from Tuesday onwards till further notice, protesting the proposed transfer of Delhi High Court judge – Justice Yashwant Varma to the Allahabad High Court.
In a general house meeting, the Allahabad High Court Bar Association (HCBA) on Monday passed a resolution calling for impeachment proceedings to be initiated against Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma.
Further, the HCBA has urged the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to permit a first information report (FIR) to be filed against Justice Varma. The HCBA has also called for an investigation into the matter by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and other agencies.
In the resolution was passed during a meeting held on Monday afternoon, which was presided over by its president Anil Tiwari, and conducted by secretary Vikrant Pandey, the HCBA reiterated its opposition to any proposal by the Supreme Court Collegium to transfer Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court. All office-bearers including senior vice-president Rajesh Khareweres present in the meeting.
The lawyers further resolved not to do any judicial work after lunch on Monday.
“The Bar Association is of a considered opinion that immediate steps should be taken to the r impeachment of the delinquent judge. It is apposite to state that after this incident, the judiciary, especially the High Court and Supreme Court may not be able to claim moral high ground. The CJI should immediately recommend to the government to draw impeachment proceedings against Justice Yashwant Varma,” the resolution passed in the afternoon added.
The developments took place in the wake of the alleged recovery of unaccounted cash from an outhouse at Justice Varma’s residence last week after firefighters went there to douse a fire. The incident led to allegations of corruption against Justice Varma, who on the other hand has denied such accusations and maintained that it appears to be a conspiracy to frame him.
Subsequently, the CJI on March 22 initiated an in-house inquiry and tasked a panel of three High Court judges to examine the allegations against Justice Varma.
Although the HCBA expressed appreciation for this gesture said that this is not enough as judges cannot be the judge of their cause.
“We can only hope and trust that this In-house inquiry does not end in a cover-up to save justice, Varma. In no other country in the world, judges appoint judges, which is happening only in India through a Collegium system and the weak executive continues to follow the same till date,” the resolution said.
It is learnt that today on March 24, the Collegium published an official statement recommending Justice Varma’s transfer to the Allahabad High Court.
However, the Allahabad HCBA has already indicated that it would oppose this proposal by tooth and nail.
“The Allahabad High Court is not a dumping ground for corrupt and tainted judges that the Bar Association shall oppose tooth and nail,” the resolution said.
“It is not merely a trial of a petty criminal but the conduct of a sitting High Court Judge which has shocked the nation and the functionality of the constitution is at stake. Therefore continuance of Justice Yashwant Varma any further is dangerous for democracy as it eroded ‘Public Faith’ which is the only power available in the judicial system. If faith is gone, everything gone and the nation will collapse,” the resolution added.
The HCBA added that the immunity generally given to judges from criminal prosecution is only for acts done in their professional capacity. Since no such act was involved in this case, Justice Varma should not be made immune from a criminal investigation the HCBA said.
The resolution further called for reviewing all judgments delivered by Justice Varma. Moreover, the HCBA has called for an overhaul of the collegium system of appointing judges.
“The procedure of appointment of judges through Collegium is not transparent. All eligible and competent persons are not considered rather consideration is limited to a very limited class of lawyers who are either from the family of judges or of influential lawyers or close to them. We strongly resolve that for ensuring and restoring the ‘faith of common public of India’, the collegium system is required to be revisited so that a transparent system be introduced,” the five-page resolution of HCBA dated March 24 added.
