A small fire at a judge’s official residence has opened a can of worms, threatening to expose the incidence of pervasive corruption plaguing the nation’s judiciary, considered the third pillar of democracy. The recovery of a huge pile of cash, apparently unaccounted, from the official residence of Justice Yashwant Varma, the second senior-most judge of the Delhi High Court, is not only unprecedented, but also has serious ramifications for the country’s entire judicial fraternity.
Adding to the controversy, the twists and turns that the case has taken ever since it came to fore reflect the opacity that surrounds our legal system. This has become a system where nothing seems transparent. Maybe in a desperate move to break free of the blame, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) had ordered, last Saturday evening, uploading of all videos, photos and the complete report submitted by the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court on the SC website related to the purported discovery of the cash at Justice Varma’s residence. Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya’s report to the CJI includes information about official communications indicating that four to five semi-burnt sacks of currency notes were also discovered at the judge’s residence. This decision of the CJI to post all details on the publicly accessible website, though unprecedented, is a very welcome move. It will help open up the judiciary for public scrutiny in future.
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First, it was reported that a large sum of cash was discovered after a fire broke out at Judge Varma’s residence in Delhi around 11:35 PM 14 March, prompting the Delhi fire department to respond a call to extinguish the flames. The exact amount of the cash remains unclear, although some unverified social media reports suggested it could be as high as Rs 15 crore.
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Surprisingly, the day after these claims emerged, Atul Garg, the Chief of Delhi Fire Services, stated that firefighters found no cash during their operation at Justice Varma’s home. Justice Varma also has rejected the allegations surrounding the currency-discovery controversy, asserting that neither he nor any of his family members ever stored cash in the storeroom of his residence. But then where did they store it if not in the storeroom?
In a response submitted to the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice Varma said the claims of cash being found at his home are a “conspiracy to frame and malign him.”
However, the inquiry report from the Delhi High Court, along with the video posted on the Supreme Court’s website, has raised questions about the Delhi Fire Services chief’s claim that firefighters did not discover any cash while extinguishing the blaze. This one little fire seems to have started a huge conflagration that is about to engulf one of the strongest establishments of India.
A video released by Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora showing burnt bundles of cash at Justice Varma’s home, along with initial findings from Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya calling for a “deeper probe,” has led CJI Sanjiv Khanna to form a committee for an in-house inquiry into the allegations against Varma. The three-member inquiry panel comprises Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice GS Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, and Justice Anu Sivaraman, a judge of the Karnataka High Court.
The country has become accustomed to seeing tainted money unearthed from politicians’ and bureaucrats’ residences. Now the citizens of India have become the audience to this comparatively new drama unfolding about the judiciary, which has demolished all hope for fairness and upholding of the rule of law by this revered wing of the system of governance. The Indian judiciary is obviously not immune to deep-level corruption. The general impression created by this incident that justice can be bought with money is not only dangerous for the judicial system, but is frightening for the average Indian citizen. The more important aspect is that money alone may not be the only ‘currency’ for corruption in the judiciary. The long-simmering issue of pro-establishment judgements that please the political bosses of the time could be another method of high-level corruption. Used as quid pro quo, controversial judicial pronouncements seen happening so very vigorously and regularly in the last decade, could also indicate to the fact that offer of lucrative constitutional posts post-retirement are barter material for the judges at different levels.
No wonder, lawyers, including Supreme Court advocates, various political parties and legal experts are demanding stringent action against Justice Varma. In fact, lawyers association of Allahabad High Court has complained whether their Court is being used as a “trash bin” after reports emerged that the Supreme Court collegium has transferred Justice Varma to that High Court. Moreover, the fact that Justice Varma in the past delivered judgements on controversial matters, including the Unnao rape case, only propels Opposition politicians to put the whole matter in a different light. The most delicate question now could be: Is Judge Yashwant Varma the sole corrupt judicial officer in India today?
