New Delhi, Aug. 1 -- The Chief Justice of India (CJI) is not a mere "post office" but a constitutional functionary duty-bound to act in defence of the institutional integrity of the judiciary, the Supreme Court on Wednesday told Justice Yashwant Varma, adding that there appeared to be no procedural violation in the then CJI Sanjiv Khanna recommending his removal over allegations of corruption. The court reserved its verdict on Justice Varma's petition assailing the CJI's recommendation made to the President and Prime Minister in May, after the in-house panel found "strong inferential evidence" of his involvement in the recovery of sacks of charred currency at his official residence in Delhi in March. "The Chief Justice of India is not supposed to be a mere post office. He has a certain duty towards the nation because he is the head of the judiciary. On the basis of the materials, if he finds that the misdemeanour is such that it requires a certain line of action, we will affirm the authority of the CJI in doing so," a bench of justices Dipankar Datta and AG Masih told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the judge. The court added that pertinent provisions in the Judges' Protection Act apparently empower the CJI to take all non-punitive steps against the judges for maintaining institutional integrity. "In your case, there is no patent violation of the in-house procedure. Whatever has been laid down, the then CJI [Sanjiv Khanna] followed it," the bench told Sibal. It also questioned the judge's conduct in approaching the court after the conclusion of the in-house inquiry and the adverse report that it gave. "You could have challenged it earlier. There your conduct does not inspire confidence. We did not want to comment on it, but your conduct has not been above par. You submitted yourself to the procedure. Why did you appear? On the face of it, you knew it could lead to an outcome not favourable to you," it added....