Cash at judge’s house: Panel submits report

Cash at judge’s house: Panel submits report

NEW DELHI: After a 40-day inquiry into the alleged discovery of cash at Justice Yashwant Varma‘s residence on the night of March 14, a three-member judicial panel has submitted a voluminous report to CJI Sanjiv Khanna, reports Dhananjay Mahapatra. The report details the sequence of events after the fire incident and the mysterious disappearance of cash captured in a video shot by first responders.
However, there was no information about the nature of the voluminous report or its findings. The report is learned to have annexed statements of over 50 witnesses examined by the panel.
Panel’s findings not binding, ball now in CJI’s court
The witnesses included the Delhi police commissioner, the Delhi Fire Services chief who had given contradictory statements, some Delhi high court staff, the first responders to the fire as well as the security personnel deployed at the judge’s residence.
Eight days after the incident, the CJI had constituted a panel comprising Punjab & Haryana chief justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal Pradesh CJ G S Sandhawalia and Karnataka HC’s Justice Anu Sivaraman to conduct an inquiry into the allegations against Justice Varma. Under the memorandum of procedure, the CJI is the sole authority to decide the course of action depending on the contents of the report even though the panel’s findings are not binding. If the report is adverse to Justice Varma, who has since been repatriated to Allahabad HC, the CJI could order lodging of an FIR for a formal investigation by police.
The CJI, if he thinks fit, may also recommend to Union govt to initiate removal motion against the judge in case the panel has recorded specific findings of wrongdoing and his prima facie involvement in stashing of cash in the outhouse of his residence that caught fire.
If the panel detects no evidence of wrongdoing on part of judge, then, too, the CJI could order a formal investigation or decide to close the case and allow Justice Varma to resume judicial work, which has been withdrawn since March 22.
The fire broke out at 11.30pm on March 14. Delhi Police commissioner informed Delhi HC CJ D K Upadhyay the next day at 4.50pm, who in turn informed the CJI on March 16. Police also handed over to the Delhi HC CJ photos and videos of burning cash inside a room.
Later, CJI Khanna uploaded the video of burning cash to SC’s official website. He also asked Justice Varma not to delete any data from his personal phones. In his response to the HC CJ, Justice Varma had said, “I unequivocally state that neither I nor any of my family members had stored or kept any cash or currency in that storeroom at any point of time. What baffles me is the absence of any sacks of allegedly burnt currency which were ever recovered or seized.”