Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna on Tuesday said a court is required to assess "both the plus and minus arguments" in a case before arriving at a conclusion.
The Chief Justice, who marked his last day in the top post, made the remarks as he spoke for the first time on the cash row surrounding Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Varma.
"Judicial thinking is decisive and a judge reviews the arguments before arriving at a decision related to any matter. In such a situation, we look at both the plus and minus arguments of a matter and then decide what was right and what was wrong," he told reporters when asked for his views on the case.
"The future will tell whether it was right or wrong," he added.
On May 8, Chief Justice Khanna had written to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in connection with the cash row, which erupted after a huge pile of unaccounted money was found in a storeroom attached to Justice Varma's bungalow, following a fire on March 14.
Mr Varma was a judge of the Delhi High Court at that time, and was transferred to Allahabad High Court after the allegations surfaced.
"Chief Justice of India, in terms of the In-House Procedure, has written to Hon'ble the President of India and Hon'ble the Prime Minister of India enclosing therewith copy of the 3-Member Committee report dated 03.05.2025 along with the letter/response dated 06.05.2025 received from Mr Justice Yashwant Varma," the letter said.
The details of the top court-appointed panel's report could not immediately be ascertained but sources said the Chief Justice had recommended initiation of proceedings against the High Court judge.
Justice Varma has refuted the allegations against him, and said no cash was ever placed in the storeroom either by him or any of his family members.
On March 22, however, Chief Justice Khanna constituted a three-member committee to conduct an in-house inquiry into the matter and decided to upload on the top court website the inquiry report of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya of the Delhi High Court. It included photos and videos of the alleged discovery of a huge stash of cash.
The panel comprised Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Justice GS Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka.
On March 24, the Supreme Court collegium recommended the repatriation of Justice Varma to his parent Allahabad High Court. Days later on March 28, it asked the chief justice of the Allahabad High Court not to assign any judicial work for now to Justice Varma.
