Allahabad High Court Judge Justice Yashwant Verma has appealed to the Supreme Court to hear his petition as soon as possible. This petition has been filed to cancel the report of an in-house investigation committee, in which he has been found guilty of misconduct in the cash scandal. Justice Verma has called this case serious and has appealed for an immediate hearing on it.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal raised the matter in the Supreme Court. He requested Chief Justice B R Gavai to list the petition as soon as possible as it raises some important constitutional questions. Chief Justice Gavai said, “I will have to constitute a bench.” It is noteworthy that CJI BR Gavai has recused himself from hearing this petition. He has said that it would not be appropriate for him to hear this case because he was part of the talks on the controversy related to Justice Verma.
The CJI later clarified that the court will take a decision on this and will appoint an appropriate bench to hear Justice Verma’s petition. Justice Verma, in his petition, has sought repeal of the May 8 recommendation of the then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, in which he had asked Parliament to initiate impeachment proceedings against him. This recommendation was made on the basis of the report of the investigation committee which had found Justice Verma guilty.
The inquiry was headed by Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Sheel Nagu. The committee conducted the inquiry for 10 days, examined 55 witnesses and visited the spot where the fire broke out on March 14 at around 11:35 pm at Justice Verma’s official residence when he was a judge of the Delhi High Court.