The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a petition seeking the registration of an FIR against Justice Yashwant Varma following the alleged discovery of cash at his official residence in New Delhi.
A bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan referred to a May 8 press release issued by the apex court, which confirmed that the Chief Justice of India had forwarded the findings of an in-house inquiry committee, along with Justice Varma’s response, to the President and the Prime Minister.
The bench stated, “Before seeking a writ of mandamus, the petitioner must first approach the appropriate authorities with their grievance. Therefore, we are not inclined to hear this writ petition. At this stage, it is not necessary to examine the other requests made in the petition.”
Justice Varma was reportedly indicted by the in-house panel, prompting then Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna to recommend his resignation. However, Justice Varma, who had been transferred from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court amid the controversy, refused to step down. Following this, Justice Khanna formally wrote to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the matter.
The petition, filed by advocate Mathews Nedumpara and three others, called for immediate criminal proceedings against Justice Varma. They argued that while the internal inquiry could lead to disciplinary action within the judiciary, it could not replace the need for a formal criminal investigation under prevailing laws.
In March, the same group had approached the Supreme Court challenging the validity of the in-house inquiry and seeking a criminal probe. That plea was dismissed as premature due to the ongoing internal investigation at the time.
With the inquiry now concluded, the petitioners asserted that any further delay in initiating criminal proceedings was unjustified. Despite this argument, the Supreme Court maintained that proper procedural steps needed to be followed before such a plea could be considered.
