Four days after the issue of alleged cash discovery at the residence of Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma created an uproar in Parliament, Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday called a meeting with Leader of the House Jagat Prakash Nadda and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge in his chambers.
The meeting, scheduled to convene at 11.30 AM today, is likely to delve into concerns raised around the issue of judicial accountability following allegations of corruption against a member of the higher judiciary.
Soon after the discovery of cash at his Delhi residence, Justice Varma was transferred to the Allahabad High Court, although the Supreme Court clarified that the transfer had not been recommended by the Collegium which on Thursday in wake of the developments.
On Friday, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had urged Chairman Dhankhar to direct the government to come up with a proposal for increasing judicial accountability.
Responding to the remarks, Dhankhar made a veiled reference to the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), a Bill championed by then Law Minister Arun Jaitley and cleared by Parliament in 2014.
"If the malaise had been dealt with, perhaps we would not have countenanced such kind of issues," Dhankhar said without naming the judge or the NJAC.
"You all will recollect the mechanism which was passed by this house with near unanimity, with no dissension, only one abstention in the Rajya Sabha, all political parties converging, going in for the initiative of the government. I wish to find out the status of that which emanated from Indian Parliament, made sacrosanct by the endorsement of 16 state assemblies and signed by the Hon’ble President," said Dhankhar.
The NJAC, tasked with the responsibility of making judicial appointments, was struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional in October 2015 while upholding the Collegium system of appointment for judges of the higher judiciary.
Dhankhar also expressed concern that the issue of cash at the judge’s residence did not come to light immediately. “If it happens with a politician, he becomes a target, a bureaucrat, an industrialist immediately and therefore systemic response which is transparent, accountable, effective, I am sure will be on the way.”
The discovery of cash at the residence of the senior judge has led to calls for greater accountability in the process of judicial appointments.
Former Solicitor General Harish Salve on Friday said that if the money was found at any government official's residence, would they have been transferred to another department.
"They would have been suspended. A disciplinary inquiry would have followed. Perish the thought if they had been found in the minister's blood. People would have been baying for their blood. If the government would have said that it would hold an internal inquiry into the cabinet minister, the SC would have interfered through a PIL and constituted an SIT. Are the same standards to be applied to your own. I would say higher standards need to be applied to your own. So, it's wrong at that level too. This is not fit for in-house inquiry," he said.
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