New Delhi: At the residence of Delhi’s High Court Judge Justice Yashwant Verma, the cash -filled jute sacks filled in a corner of the outhouse at the residence of the outhouse were allegedly seen by the firefighters and the police on the night of 14 March as fire tenders worked to extinguish a blast there.
But no official records or cash was confiscated by the judge’s employees that the material was only “stationery and court papers” that was damaged, Theprint has learned.
Atul Garg, director of Delhi Fire Department, has denied reports of cash being found at the residence of Justice Yashwant Verma. He said, “We only controlled the fire, and there was nothing unusually reported.
Show full article
However, the lid was blown, there were videos and photos that the fire department took as part of the process in any fire incident, showing cash bags, which were eventually sent to the Chief Justice of India, Sanjeev Khanna, after which action was taken to transfer Verma, showing several sources.
A police source said, “It was around 11.30 pm that the fire department came to know about the fire. Two fire tenders were taken to the spot and police, Central Public Works Department officials also reached the spot. When the cash was seen in the sacks of Jute,” a police source said.
Fire, sources said, the lawn was in the outhouse, where the clerk’s clerks were usually sitting to work. The source said, “No recovery of cash was done by the police or fire department either.”
Fire fighters, after drowning the fire, usually make a note of things that were surrounded by fire, but no cash was mentioned, it was revealed from sources. When the fire broke out, Justice Verma was not at home, but one of his close staff members quickly reached the spot.
The source said, “The judge’s staff who had gone into the house after the fire, informed that the destroyed things had stable items and some court papers.”
Since no one had hurt anyone, no FIR was registered by the police in this case. A daily diary was entered about the fire at Tughlaq Road Police Station.
The CJI has asked the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court for a fact-khoj report, which is the beginning of an in-house investigation process. But according to sources in the apex court, he did not receive the report until last evening. Further action will be based on the report.
Also read: ‘VR Not Thrash bin’: Allahabad HC Bar Association on Justice Yashwant Verma Transfer
What next?
Following this episode, the collegium of the Supreme Court under the leadership of Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna recommended the transfer of Justice Yashwant Verma on Thursday.
He is likely to bring back his parents to the High Court, Allahabad, from where he was taken to Delhi in 2021, and he can also be asked to resign later, Earlier report was reported,
Although a formal decision has been taken on the transfer, the resolution is yet to be uploaded on the Supreme Court website, as is practice.
But what comes next? Supreme Court Landmark of 1991. According to Veerwamy’s decision, police or CBI can initiate criminal proceedings after public disclosure of allegations. Since these allegations form a cognitive crime, the law makes police action mandatory.
However, the direction for the same will have to come from the Chief Justice of India.
A CBI source said, “A case can certainly be registered by the CBI, but Disha is to come from CJI. Even the Lokpal cannot order an inquiry against a sitting judge,” a CBI source said.
The verdict also admitted that the seated HC judges are subject to an investigation under the prevention of corruption of ACT (PCA), provided that the investigating agency gets approval from the CJI. A court cannot take cognizance of an investigation report if no previous approval has been given by the head of the institution.
Based on the information available with the CJI, he may also ask the police or the CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the case, which is a platform before filing a formal FIR. This can lead to registration and subsequent investigation of formal FIR.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Zininia Ru Chaudhary)