New Delhi, May 26 (UNI) The Supreme Court has rejected a Right to Information (RTI) application seeking disclosure of the in-house inquiry committee’s report concerning allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma, as well as the forwarding letter sent by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to the President and the Prime Minister.
The application, filed on May 9 by Amritpal Singh Khalsa, was turned down by the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the Supreme Court.
In its reply on May 21, the CPIO cited the tests laid down by the apex court in the landmark judgment Supreme Court of India versus Subhash Chandra Agarwal (2020), which emphasized concerns regarding the independence of the judiciary, the proportionality principle, fiduciary relationships, the right to privacy, and the duty of confidentiality.
The CPIO also invoked Section 8(1)(e) and Section 11(1) of the RTI Act, 2005. Under Section 8(1)(e), information held in a fiduciary capacity is exempt from disclosure unless the competent authority deems its release to be in the larger public interest. Section 11(1) bars disclosure of information pertaining to third parties unless consent is obtained or overriding public interest is established.
“The information cannot be provided in view of the tests outlined by the Supreme Court in its judgment passed on November 13, 2019.with reference to the provisions of Section 8(1)(e) and Section 11(1) of the RTI Act,” stated the CPIO and Additional Registrar of the Supreme Court.
The background to the inquiry stems from a March 22 order of the then CJI Sanjiv Khanna, who constituted an in-house committee comprising Justice Sheel Nagu (Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court), Justice G S Sandhawalia (Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court), and Justice Anu Sivaraman (Judge, Karnataka High Court).
This followed media reports about a large amount of cash found accidentally during a firefighting operation at the outhouse of Justice Varma’s official Delhi residence.
At the time, Justice Varma was serving on the Delhi High Court bench. He was later transferred to the Allahabad High Court, his parent court, and was relieved of judicial work on the instructions of the CJI.
While the preliminary report of the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice Varma’s response, and photo and video evidence provided by the Delhi Police were uploaded on the Supreme Court’s website, the final report of the in-house committee remains confidential.
The forwarding of the inquiry report to the constitutional authorities the President and the Prime Minister, was carried out by then CJI Sanjiv Khanna on May 8 for further appropriate action.
