NEW DELHI: In the Centre’s first public response to the alleged recovery of cash from the official bungalow of Justice Yashwant Varma, home minister Amit Shah on Friday said no FIR could have been registered in the matter without a go-ahead from the Chief Justice of India (CJI). “When no FIR can be registered, how can a seizure be carried out. The FIR can only be registered with the CJI’s permission,” Shah said at the Times Now Summit 2025, co-presented by Dream Sports and powered by Pernod Ricard India.
He also said a panel of judges was looking into the matter and one should wait for its report. The home minister touched upon several other issues including the Waqf Bill, declaring that govt would bring the bill before Parliament in the ongoing session, notwithstanding the protests by Muslim clerics, Islamic outfits and opposition parties. “(Then) Congress govt had passed the Waqf Bill in 2013 without any debate to appease a votebank.
It is against the spirit of the Constitution. We are only trying to bring it in line with the Constitution,” Shah said. “The current law says Waqf Board decisions cannot be challenged in court.
How can this be allowed? Even decisions of the govt are challenged in court,” he said while accusing opposition parties of misleading the Muslim community “simply to consolidate a votebank”. Earlier, while speaking on the alleged recovery of cash at Justice Varma’s residence, Shah said CJI Sanjiv Khanna had, in line with the procedu.