Judge Varma hides identity, is ‘XXX’ in his SC petition

NEW DELHI: Facing removal motion in Parliament for sacks of cash found at his official residence in Delhi, Justice Yashwant Varma has kept his identity a secret in his petition in the Supreme Court while seeking quashing of the in-house inquiry report and then CJI’s recommendation for stripping him of judgeship.A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih is scheduled to hear his petition on Monday. In the petition, his name is described as “XXX”. Such camouflage is used in records of SC and HCs to hide the identity of petitioner women who were sexually harassed or assaulted. It is also used to prevent revealing the identity of juveniles, and minors in matrimonial custody battles. SC has in many judgments asked all courts not to reveal the names of rape survivors in judgments.LS Speaker may write to CJI this week for panel members’ namesJustice Varma’s plea – titled “XXX vs Union of India” – is the 699th civil writ petition filed in SC this year. While the Centre is the first respondent, SC itself is the second respondent. It was filed on July 17, and after the advocate on record rectified defects pointed out by the registry, SC registered the petition on July 24.

Interestingly, while the petition “XXX vs Union of India” is listed at serial number 56 before the bench headed by Justice Datta, another petition by advocate Mathews J Nedumpara, seeking registration of FIR against Justice Varma to unravel the mystery behind the cash, its burning and subsequent disappearance, is listed at serial number 59 before the same bench on Monday. Meanwhile, Lok Sabha has admitted a notice for removal against Justice Varma signed by more than 150 MPs. The LS speaker is likely to write this week to CJI B R Gavai seeking names of an SC judge and an HC chief justice, who would be part of an inquiry committee under the Judges Inquiry Act, 1968. The speaker will nominate a distinguished jurist to complete the composition of the three-member committee headed by the SC judge. Repatriated to the Allahabad HC from the Delhi HC after the ‘cash-in-kothi’ controversy, Justice Varma in his petition has challenged the validity of the in-house inquiry report finding him guilty of the unaccounted cash at his residential premises and requested SC to declare the then CJI Sanjiv Khanna’s May 8 recommendation to the President and the PM for his removal as unconstitutional.