A fresh petition seeking the registration of an FIR against former judge Yashwant Varma over the cash-at-home controversy was mentioned before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant for urgent listing, the petitioners contending that the Registry was refusing to list it. The CJI did not expressly indicate anything on listing. Earlier pleas seeking an FIR and a CBI probe have been dismissed by the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court respectively.
Speaking at the 6th Ram Jethmalani Memorial Lecture, Senior Advocate Harish Salve asked why no criminal case was registered after burnt cash was found at a judge’s residence, and argued that judicial independence cannot mean immunity from accountability. Justice Varma denies wrongdoing and no criminal charge has ever been brought.
The Supreme Court dismissed the Income Tax Department’s appeal due to delay, upholding the Delhi High Court order quashing reassessment proceedings against NDTV’s holding company RRPR Holdings. The ruling reinforces that reassessment cannot continue when the main tax claim itself has already been rejected in appellate proceedings.
Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP, criticised the recent directions of the Supreme Court of India regarding a Class 8 textbook chapter discussing “corruption in the judiciary.” She termed the Court’s intervention “judicial overreach,” questioning its instructions related to the school textbook content.
The Lok Sabha inquiry committee has accelerated hearings in the impeachment-related probe against Justice Yashwant Varma to avoid delay due to an impending retirement of a panel member.
The inquiry concerns allegations of unaccounted cash found at his official residence and is being conducted in camera under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968.
