Imphal (Manipur) [India], March 23 (ANI): Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Sunday addressed the controversy surrounding Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma.
He clarified that the matter is currently with the Supreme Court, which has constituted a three-member committee to investigate the issue. Justice Varma is facing a probe over cash allegedly recovered from his residence.
“This case is with the Supreme Court. It has formed a three-member committee including two High Court Chief Justices and one High Court Judge. Let the committee report come. Then we will talk about this…,” Meghwal told ANI here.
Notably, sanitation workers have said they found burnt pieces of currency notes near the official residence of Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma who is facing a probe over cash allegedly recovered from his residence.
“We work in this circle. We collect garbage from the roads. We were cleaning here 4-5 days back and collecting garbage when we found some small pieces of burnt Rs 500 note. We found it that day. Now, we have found 1-2 pieces…We do not know where a fire broke out,” Inderjeet, a sanitation worker, told ANI.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Saturday constituted a three-member committee consisting of Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal Pradesh Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Karnataka High Court Judge, Justice Anu Sivaraman to conduct an inquiry into the allegations
The Supreme Court has released the inquiry report filed by Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay into the controversy involving High Court Justice Yashwant Varma, as per a press release by the Supreme Court.
In his report, the Delhi High Court Chief Justice said that he is of the prima facie opinion that the entire matter warrants a deeper probe.
The Supreme Court also released the response of Justice Yashwant Varma, who has denied the allegations and said that it clearly appeared to be a conspiracy to frame and malign him.
Justice Varma stated that no cash was ever placed in that storeroom either by him or any of his family members, and he said he strongly denounced the suggestion that the alleged cash belonged to them. The room which caught fire and where cash was allegedly found was an outhouse and not the main building where the judge and family reside, he stated.
The Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Devendra Kumar Upadhyay, instructed Justice Yashwant Varma to preserve all communication on his phone while acting on the directive of the Chief Justice of India (CJI); this included conversations, messages, and data, as the controversy surrounding him continued to unfold. Justice Varma, in a statement to Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay, refuted the allegations implicating him in the cash recovery incident.
According to media reports, a fire at the judge’s house inadvertently led to the firefighters’ recovery of cash. The cash was found initially by fire tenders when a fire broke out in the judge’s residence on March 14. The judge was not present at his house.
In another development, Meghwal recently attended a National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) program in Imphal, Manipur, where five Supreme Court judges were also present. During the event, Meghwal discussed the government’s plans to expedite peace restoration in Manipur, an issue that has been a topic of discussion in Parliament as well.
According to Meghwal, the Home Minister has assured that a proposal for Manipur’s future after the President’s Rule will be thoroughly discussed in Parliament.
“Five Supreme Court judges attended the NALSA programme in Manipur. I was there, too. We spoke at the event about how we are going to fast-track peace restoration (in Manipur). We discussed Manipur in the Parliament too… The Home Minister said that the proposal for Manipur after the President’s Rule will be discussed in detail in the Parliament…,” he said. (ANI)
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