New Delhi [India], March 23 (ANI): After a fire at the residence of a sitting judge inadvertently led to the discovery of a large amount of cash, Senior Advocate in Supreme Court and BJP leader Nalin Kohli on Sunday called for transparency and a clear explanation into the incident.
Nalin Kohli also cautioned against using this incident to undermine the reputation of the entire judiciary and made it clear that corruption, in any form, must not be tolerated, as it undermines the trust and credibility of any establishment or institution.
Speaking to ANI over the incident, Nalin Kohli said, “What one has gathered from the media and also what has come out and transpired through the decisions of the Supreme Court and the report of the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, is very disturbing. One cannot recall an incident where such a grave allegation of actually cash being present in the house of a sitting judge has ever been raised or discovered.”
“In this particular case, what has emanated or is known from media is that there was an incident of fire. It seems that the Fire Brigade went to the judge’s house and in that process, the videos show large amount of burnt cash, amounting to big figures. Pursuant to that, Supreme Court, under it’s procedure asked the Delhi High Court Chief Justice to do an inquiry.”
Kohli criticised the apparent disappearance of the cash after the initial discovery, with reports suggesting that a senior official from the Delhi High Court visited the house, only to find that the money was no longer there.
“What is reported in the media is that an explanation was sought that how do you explain this cash and later on it seems that the Registrar General or someone senior from Delhi High Court went to the house and that time there was no cash available. So, it seems this was removed. This raises serious questions. These have to be refuted or at least an explanation has to be forthcoming,” he said.
Further, he said, “If crores of cash is found in the residence of a sitting judge, it obviously creates a big issue that has to be answered and looked into. The Supreme Court has formed an inquiry committee under its procedure. It would have two sitting chief justices of High Courts. We will have to wait for this report, but we will obviously raises larger questions about the presence of at least corruption in some segments of judiciary and at the same this instance cannot be used to run down the entire judiciary.”
He said that a bad example in any field or institution cannot be used to tarnish the image of the entire establishment, whether it is political, executive, legislative and in this case the judiciary.
“This is because even in the judiciary, through the collegium there are honest people who work day-in and day-out and are honestly discharing their work and dispensing justice, but it is equally pertinent that truth come out at the earlist. At present Justice Varma has been asked not to do judicial work but whether his continuation will be tenable or not will be depending on the final outcome of the inquiry committee,” he stated.
“The larger question that’ll come up for debate is who are the people who have made these cash transactions because corruption in any form cannot be tolerated, is a termite that destroys the institution and does great injustice to the institution in terms of the good work the people in there are doing,” he added.
The Supreme Court released the inquiry report filed by Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay into the controversy involving High Court Justice Yashwant Varma, as per a press release by the Supreme Court.
In his report, the Delhi High Court Chief Justice said that he is of the prima facie opinion that the entire matter warrants a deeper probe.
The Supreme Court also released the response of Justice Yashwant Varma, who has denied the allegations and said that it clearly appeared to be a conspiracy to frame and malign him.
Justice Varma stated that no cash was ever placed in that storeroom either by him or any of his family members, and he said he strongly denounced the suggestion that the alleged cash belonged to them.
The room which caught fire and where cash was allegedly found was an outhouse and not the main building where the judge and family reside, he stated.
The Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Devendra Kumar Upadhyay, instructed Justice Yashwant Varma to preserve all communication on his phone while acting on the directive of the Chief Justice of India (CJI); this included conversations, messages, and data, as the controversy surrounding him continued to unfold.
Justice Varma, in a statement to Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay, refuted the allegations implicating him in the cash recovery incident.
According to media reports, a fire at the judge’s house inadvertently led to the firefighters’ recovery of cash. The cash was found initially by fire tenders when a fire broke out in the judge’s residence on March 14. The judge was not present at his house. (ANI)
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