Fire at judge’s bungalow leads to recovery of large amount of cash; transferred back to parent court

After a large amount of cash was recovered from the bungalow of Justice Yashwant Verma, he was sent back from the Delhi High Court to his parent court, Allahabad High Court. The cash was recovered after a fire incident at his bungalow. 

A fire broke out at Verma’s official residence while he was not in the city, according to sources who told India Today. His family members alerted the fire brigade and the police. 

However, after the fire was extinguished the personnel discovered a huge amount of cash in different rooms of the bungalow. After the incident, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna convened a meeting of the Collegium, where it was unanimously decided to transfer Justice Verma back to Allahabad High Court, where he previously served till October 2021.

Sources indicate that discussions are also ongoing about launching an investigation and possibly initiating impeachment proceedings against Justice Verma. Some Collegium judges have expressed concern that simply transferring Justice Verma might damage the judiciary's reputation and weaken public trust in the legal system. 

They have urged Justice Verma to resign voluntarily. If he declines, impeachment proceedings could be initiated in Parliament.

According to the Constitution, an in-house procedure was established by the Supreme Court in 1999 to investigate allegations of corruption, misconduct, or irregularities against any High Court or Supreme Court judge. The guidelines stipulate that the Chief Justice first seeks an explanation from the accused judge. If the response is deemed unsatisfactory or if a detailed investigation is necessary, the CJI must form an in-house panel consisting of one Supreme Court judge and two High Court Chief Justices. Depending on the findings of the investigation, the judge in question may be asked to resign or face impeachment.

(With inputs from Sanjay Sharma)