V-P Dhankhar terms Justice Varma cash-at-home case ghastly crime: 'Hope there is FIR, Centre handicapped by SC judgment'

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar raised the issue of cash discovery at a judge's residence on Monday. (File: PTI)

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday termed the alleged discovery of cash at former Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma's premises a "ghastly crime" and stressed on the need for the registration of an FIR in order to enable the police to investigate the matter.

"If the money is so huge in volume, we have to find out: Is it tainted money? What is the source of this money? How was it stocked in the official residence of a judge? Whom did it belong to? Several penal provisions are violated in the process. I do hope an FIR will be registered. We must go to the root of the matter because, for democracy, it matters that our judiciary, in whom the faith is unshakable — its very foundations have been shaken," he said addressing students and faculty at the National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) in Kerala's Kochi.

Those of you who have read Julius Caesar have heard of the Ides of March. Ides of March is associated with misfortune and doom. Our judiciary had Ides of March on the night intervening 14th and 15th March: a terrible time! Cash in large amount was found the official residence… pic.twitter.com/UyrQHFcEKu

— Vice-President of India (@VPIndia) July 7, 2025

The Vice President, who also serves as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, said that the central government was "handicapped" because a previous judgment of the SUpreme Court bars it from registering an FIR against a judge.

"The government at the central level is handicapped because an FIR cannot be registered in view of a judgment of the Supreme Court rendered in early 90s. I'm all for independence of Judiciary. I'm a strong votary of protecting judges. We must protect our Judges from frivolous litigation. But when something like this happens, it is worrisome," he said.

Dhankhar's remarks come even as the central government intensifies its efforts to bring a motion to impeach Justice Varma in the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament. An internal committee constituted by the Supreme Court indicted the judge after a fire at his residence in the national capital in March led to the alleged discovery of several burnt sacks of banknotes in the outhouse.

Though the judge claimed ignorance about the cash, the Supreme Court-appointed committee indicted him after speaking to a number of witnesses and recording his statement. Then-CJI Sanjiv Khanna is believed to have prodded him to resign, but Justice Varma dug in his heels. The apex court has since repatriated him to his parent court, the Allahabad High Court, where he has not been assigned any judicial work.

In remarks critical of the judiciary over the incident, Dhankhar said referred to the intervening night of March 14 and 15 as Ides of March, a popular phrase from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

"Those of you who have read Julius Caesar have heard of the Ides of March. Ides of March is associated with misfortune and doom. Our judiciary had Ides of March on the night intervening 14th and 15th March: a terrible time!" Dhankhar said.