Cash-discovery row: Delhi HC withdraws work from Justice Yashwant Varma
New Delhi(PTI): The Delhi High Court on Monday "with immediate effect" withdrew judicial work from Justice Yashwant Varma, who is subject to an inquiry after the purported discovery of a large stash of cash following a fire at his official residence, till further orders.
The high court issued a notice on the development.
Another note attached to the causelist of the day on the high court's website said the court master of division bench-III, which was headed by Justice Varma, would assign dates in matters listed before Monday.
"In view of the recent events, the judicial work from Justice Yashwant Varma is withdrawn with immediate effect, till further orders," the note, with the registrar (listing) as the signatory, said.
The note was issued by the registrar following a notice of Delhi High Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya.
Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna had previously asked Justice Upadhyaya not to assign any judicial work to Justice Varma, the second senior-most judge of the Delhi High Court.
Justice Varma was heading a division bench, which was dealing with cases of sales tax, goods and services tax, company appeals and other appeals of the original side.
The roster handled by the division bench of Justices Yashwant Varma and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar has now been allotted to a division bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar.
Now the division bench-III will be headed by Justice Prathiba M Singh.
The Supreme Court on March 22 uploaded on its website the inquiry report of Chief Justice Upadhyaya -- complete with photos and videos -- over the alleged discovery.
CJI Khanna has constituted a three-member committee to conduct an inquiry into the allegations against Justice Varma aside from ordering an in-house inquiry following a report from Justice Upadhyaya.
Justice Upadhyaya's report to the CJI contains material with regard to official communication that says "four to five semi-burnt sacks of Indian currency notes" were found from the judge's Lutyens home.
Justice Varma has strongly denounced the allegations in the cash-discovery row and said no cash was ever placed in the storeroom of his residence either by him or any of his family members.
In his response to the high court chief justice, Justice Varma said the allegation of cash discovery from his residence clearly appeared to be a "conspiracy to frame and malign him".
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IAF to hold 2-day wargame along frontier with Pakistan: NOTAM issued
New Delhi, May 6 (PTI): The Indian Air Force will carry out a two-day mega military exercise along the border with Pakistan from Wednesday that will involve all the frontline fighter jets including Rafale, Su-30 and Jaguar aircraft, sources in the defence establishment said on Tuesday.
The exercise is taking place amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan over the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.
India's civil aviation authorities have already issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) for the major air exercise that will largely take place along the southern and western section of the Indo-Pakistan border.
India's frontline fighter jets including the Rafale, Su-30 MKI, MiG-29, Mirage-2000, Tejas and AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft are set to feature in the exercise, the sources said.
In the course of the exercise, the IAF will simulate enemy targets on ground and in the air with deadly precision, they said.
The militaries of both India and Pakistan are on a high alert following rising tensions between the two nations.
Soon after the Pahalgam terror attack, India, citing "cross-border linkages" to the strike, promised severe punishment to those involved in it.
In a high-level meeting with the top defence brass on April 29, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the armed forces have "complete operational freedom" to decide on the mode, targets and timing of India's response to the terror attack.
Air Chief Marshal A P Singh met Prime Minister Modi on Sunday and the Chief of Air Staff briefed him about the IAF's operational readiness.
On Saturday, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi apprised the prime minister on the overall situation in the critical sea lanes in the Arabian Sea.
