Justice Varma’s resignation welcome, should have done it earlier: Pande

President of the Allahabad High Court Bar Association Rakesh Pande on Friday welcomed Justice Yashwant Varma’s resignation but said he should have taken the step earlier and put an end to needless controversy.

“If Justice Yashwant Varma wanted to resign, it would have been better for all of us had he done it much earlier. This merely created unnecessary controversy. It tarnished the image of everyone involved — the High Court, the entire judiciary, and him.

“If he was going to fight (corruption charges against him), he should have continued to fight. And if he intended to resign, he could have done it right at the beginning. Nevertheless, his resignation now is a welcome step. He has acted sensibly,” Pande told PTI on Friday.

Allahabad High Court judge Varma, who was facing impeachment proceedings after wads of burnt currency notes were found at his residence in Delhi, has submitted his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu, sources said on Friday. Due to his resignation, impeachment proceedings against him have become infructuous.

Justice Varma was repatriated from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court. The currency notes were purportedly found on March 14 last year.

The cash discovery happened following a fire there around 11.35 pm that day. Fire officials responded to a distress call and doused the blaze.

The apex court collegium, headed by the then CJI Sanjiv Khanna, and the Delhi High Court subsequently issued a series of directives, including the withdrawal of judicial work from Justice Varma.

Justice Varma “unequivocally” denied that the cash was placed in the storeroom either by him or any of his family members while “strongly denouncing the suggestion that the alleged cash belonged” to them.

He said the allegations of cash discovery from his official residence clearly appeared to be a conspiracy to frame and malign him.