Skip to main content

Integrity on trial? Doing the right thing in the wrong times: The case of Justice Yashwant Varma

By Rosamma Thomas* 
It is possible to be a minority of just one; it is possible to do the right thing, and still be punished for it. Jesus Christ was crucified, after all. On March 22, 2025, just days after news broke of the vast sums of money found burnt at Justice Yashwant Varma’s official residence, Ajuni Bedi compiled a list of notable judgments authored by this judge who then served the Delhi High Court.
In 2023, J Varma led a division bench of the Delhi High Court that ruled that gold is prohibited item for import under the Customs Act, a ruling with great impact on import policy and customs regulations.
Issuing a clarification on the Arms Act, in 2022, J Varma ruled that even members of Rifles Associations or Clubs cannot possess more than two firearms; this underlined the fact that the right to possess firearms is not an absolute right under the Constitution. It is noteworthy that in May 2025, the Assam cabinet approved a scheme to offer arms licences to people living in “remote” and “vulnerable” areas, to help them protect themselves. Is not such protection one of the duties of the state?
It was during J Varma’s earlier tenure at the Allahabad High Court that Dr Kafeel Khan was granted bail. Dr Khan was accused of medical negligence during the Gorakhpur Hospital tragedy in 2017, when the hospital’s oxygen supply was cut off after warnings of non-payment of dues to the supplier. Media outlets reported that Dr Khan used his own funds to acquire oxygen cylinders, and worked overtime to remedy the situation; yet the news coverage only showed the state government in poor light, and action against the good doctor was swift.
In March 2024, J Varma rejected a plea from the Congress party challenging the tax reassessment of the party. Is that why he has no friends in the Opposition either?
Exactly 15 years ago, after evading police for four days, India’s current Union Home Minister Amit Shah was arrested by the CBI in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. In November 2013, website Cobrapost published a report that detailed how Amit Shah, in 2009, while serving as home minister of Gujarat, ordered the illegal surveillance of a young woman, in gross abuse of the machinery of state police. Over 200 audio recordings of the home minister speaking with a police officer were submitted to the CBI. The mystery surrounding the “death” of Justice Loya, who was hearing just one case – the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case -- at the time of his death, has also been covered in detail by the Caravan magazine.
Every saint has a past, they say, and every sinner a future. But can it be that some saints remain saints, while some sinners stay sinners?
---
*Freelance journalist

Comments

Post a Comment

NOTE: While there is no bar on viewpoint, comments containing hateful or abusive language will not be published and will be marked spam. -- Editor

TRENDING

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.
Post a Comment
»

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

​ By Syed Ali Mujtaba*  ​The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.
Post a Comment
»

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”
Post a Comment
»