New Delhi: The Supreme Court's administration has turned down a request for information regarding the committee's report that implicated Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma in a cash discovery incident, as per the Right to Information Act.

The RTI request also aimed to obtain correspondence from the former Chief Justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna, to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi concerning this issue.

The Supreme Court cited the need for confidentiality in its communications and rejected the RTI application, stating that disclosure could infringe upon parliamentary privileges.

Earlier this month, Chief Justice Khanna communicated with both the President and the Prime Minister, sharing the committee's findings along with Justice Varma's response.

The next steps are now in the hands of the executive and Parliament.

According to the internal procedures, the Chief Justice must write to the President and Prime Minister regarding impeachment if the judge does not heed advice to resign.

On May 8, the Supreme Court confirmed that the Chief Justice had sent the President and Prime Minister a copy of the committee's report dated May 3, along with Justice Varma's response dated May 6.

The committee, appointed by the Supreme Court, substantiated the allegations of cash discovery against Justice Varma in its report, as reported by sources.

This three-member panel included Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice G S Sandhawalia, and Justice Anu Sivaraman from the Karnataka High Court, with the report being finalized on May 3.

Sources indicated that Chief Justice Khanna had urged Justice Varma to resign due to the serious findings in the report, which was shared with the judge to ensure fairness.

The panel reviewed evidence and interviewed over 50 individuals, including Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora and the chief of the Delhi Fire Service, who were among the first responders to a fire at Justice Varma's official residence in Lutyens' Delhi on March 14 at 11:35 PM.

At that time, Justice Varma served as a judge of the Delhi High Court.

Justice Varma has consistently denied the allegations in his responses to both the Delhi High Court chief justice and the Supreme Court's appointed panel.

The controversy emerged following a news report regarding the cash discovery, prompting various actions, including a preliminary inquiry by Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya, the reassignment of judicial duties away from Justice Varma, and his subsequent transfer to the Allahabad High Court without judicial responsibilities.

On March 24, the Supreme Court collegium recommended that Justice Varma be returned to his original position at the Allahabad High Court.

On March 28, the Supreme Court instructed the chief justice of the Allahabad High Court not to assign any judicial duties to Justice Varma for the time being.