'Burnt Notes Highly Suspicious': Inquiry Committee Says 'Misconduct' In Justice Varma Cash Row
New Delhi: The Supreme Court-constituted in-house inquiry committee has found that the police and fire authorities were “slipshod” and careless in not filing an FIR or preparing a seizure memo in the case regarding the burnt cash recovered at the residence of High Court judge, Justice Yashwant Varma, Indian Express reported citing the panel report.
The three-member committee constituted by the Chief Justice of India observed the lacklustre recording of what the officials came across at the scene of the fire on March 14 at the residential premises of the judge. The Committee noted the implied duty for holding Justice Varma accountable for the misconduct regarding allegations in the cash row.
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The report pointed out that the half-burnt currency notes are “highly suspicious items” and more so are not of a small amount or denomination which could not have been placed in the storeroom without the tacit or active consent of Justice Varma or his family members. It further claimed that it is impossible for currency to be planted in the storeroom of a sitting judge, which is being monitored by a static 1 to 4 guard and a PSO stationed at the gate at all times. The house was also filled with trusted domestic servants with over six staff quarters, the report added.
“The ambit of the Committee is not to find fault with the action or inaction of the fire personnel or the police personnel as discussed above and, therefore, it would not be appropriate for us to comment upon the manner in which the fire personnel or the police personnel have gone about concluding the proceedings without preparing a proper Panchnama or seizure memo depicting the correct situation at the spot which can only be termed as slip shod,” Indian Express quoted the report.
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The panel, in its 64-page report, underlined that the government allotting a residence to a public servant also comes with the responsibility of the occupant to keep the premises free of items or materials which may give rise to suspicion in the eyes of the ordinary person. The report indicting Verma was submitted to then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on May 4.
The committee included Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana; Justice G S Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh; and Justice Anu Sivaraman, Judge of the High Court of Karnataka.
The government initiated the process of bringing an impeachment motion against Justice Varma in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament, after the chief justice forwarded the report to President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
