NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed with Justice Yashwant Varma 's submission that the video of burnt wads of currency notes found at his residence should not have been uploaded on its website, but noted that publication of the video does not mean there was a "lapse" in the process.
Also Read: SC reserves verdict on Justice Yashwant Varma's plea - What the top court said
On the question of delay in approaching the top court, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, arguing for Justice Varma, replied that a tape was released on the Supreme Court website, and, as a result, the judge's reputation was "already damaged."
"Tape was released. It was already released, my reputation already damaged. What would I come to court for?" news agency PTI quoted Sibal as saying.
Justice Dipankar Datta remarked, "We are with you on this for the time being. It should not have been done."
The judge added, "However, it does not mean that there has been some lapse in the procedure, which affects the powers of the Parliament to take action against you (Justice Varma), because Parliament, I need not to say with any emphasis, it has its own powers.
Also Read: Judge Varma hides identity, is ‘XXX’ in his SC petition
The bench of Justices Datta and AG Masih was hearing Justice Varma's plea seeking invalidation of a report by an in-house inquiry panel which found him guilty of misconduct in the cash discovery matter. The panel report indicted the Allahabad high court judge over the discovery of a huge cache of burnt cash from his official residence during his tenure as a Delhi high court judge in March.
In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court on March 22 uploaded on its website an in-house inquiry report, including photos and videos, into the discovery of a huge stash of cash at the residence of the-then Delhi high court judge.
The report contains photos and videos of the cash discovered at a storeroom in the house during a firefighting operation on the night of Holi, March 14.
Also Read: SC reserves verdict on Justice Yashwant Varma's plea - What the top court said
On the question of delay in approaching the top court, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, arguing for Justice Varma, replied that a tape was released on the Supreme Court website, and, as a result, the judge's reputation was "already damaged."
"Tape was released. It was already released, my reputation already damaged. What would I come to court for?" news agency PTI quoted Sibal as saying.
Justice Dipankar Datta remarked, "We are with you on this for the time being. It should not have been done."
The judge added, "However, it does not mean that there has been some lapse in the procedure, which affects the powers of the Parliament to take action against you (Justice Varma), because Parliament, I need not to say with any emphasis, it has its own powers.
Also Read: Judge Varma hides identity, is ‘XXX’ in his SC petition
The bench of Justices Datta and AG Masih was hearing Justice Varma's plea seeking invalidation of a report by an in-house inquiry panel which found him guilty of misconduct in the cash discovery matter. The panel report indicted the Allahabad high court judge over the discovery of a huge cache of burnt cash from his official residence during his tenure as a Delhi high court judge in March.
In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court on March 22 uploaded on its website an in-house inquiry report, including photos and videos, into the discovery of a huge stash of cash at the residence of the-then Delhi high court judge.
The report contains photos and videos of the cash discovered at a storeroom in the house during a firefighting operation on the night of Holi, March 14.
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