Claiming that the in-house panel constituted by former Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna lacked constitutional basis, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday sought registration of a criminal case and probe into the alleged discovery of burnt cash at the premises of former Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma in March this year.
Addressing gathering at a book launch event, Dhankhar said that the revelation of burnt notes at the house of a sitting High Court judge had tarnished the image of the judiciary and that only an expeditious investigation can reveal the “money trail, its purpose, the bigger sharks behind it, and if it polluted the judicial system”.
“…Let this small incident that is agitating the minds of billions, let us give quietest to it by scientific, forensic, expert, thorough investigation that reveals everything and leaves nothing unrevealed. The truth needs to be laid bare…because this incident is a concrete manifestation of what ails the system at the moment,” he said.
The VP also expressed surprise that no FIR had been registered in the matter in the two months following the alleged discovery of cash and pointed out the difference in operationalizing the criminal justice system for other individuals.
Dhankhar further said that the in-house three-member panel set up by former CJI Khanna had no constitutional basis since it is only the Chairman of either the Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha who can constitute a panel to probe allegations of misconduct against a sitting judge.
The panel set up by Khanna, comprising three high court judges, carried out a probe into the incident. The report was submitted to the government on May 8 with an observation by the then CJI that further action should be initiated against Justice Varma under the Judges (Inquiry) Act.
Dhankhar also called for a review of the 1991 Supreme Court judgment in the Justice Veeraswamy case, which had given rise to the in-house inquiry mechanism, saying that the verdict was then the need of the hour, for which he too had stood up.
However, there is now a need to revisit it, Dhankhar said, since it has “neutralised all salvos of accountability and transparency”.
“Names are floating. Several reputations have become fragile. People think the system has really suffered something. It’s a great challenge. The system will get purified,” he remarked on the need to register an FIR.
The Vice President said that it was time the Supreme Court walked the talk by following its motto of delivering justice. “Truth has to triumph in this case. Nothing but absolute truth has to triumph in this case,” he said.
On the inquiry panel set up on the administrative side by the former CJI, Dhankhar said he was surprised that the committee, with no constitutional backing or legal sanctity, recovered electronic equipment from individuals. Calling it a serious issue, he termed the committee’s inquiry as “inconsequential” and a “waste of judicial time” as the report can be sent to anyone on the administrative side and is not legally binding.
“Now just imagine how much labour has gone to chief justices of two high courts. In one high court, the coverage area is of two states,” he said, wondering if the “country can afford to invest” so much time, on the administrative side, at the cost of judicial work of the high court.
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