A fire at the residential bungalow of a Delhi High Court judge led to the discovery of a huge pile of cash, prompting the Supreme Court collegium, led by CJI Sanjiv Khanna, to transfer the judge to another High Court.
Justice Yashwant Verma has been transferred back to his parent court, the Allahabad High Court.
According to sources, the fire broke out at Verma’s home on March 14 at about 11:30 PM when he was not in the city. After the fire was extinguished, fire brigade personnel stumbled upon a huge amount of cash hidden in various rooms of the bungalow.
However, no official estimate of the amount of cash recovered from the residence has been disclosed.
Following the incident, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna summoned an urgent meeting of the five-member collegium and unanimously decided to transfer Verma back to Allahabad, where he had served until 2021.
However, some members of the collegium believed that merely transferring the judge after such a serious incident would not only damage the judiciary’s reputation but also undermine public trust in the institution.
According to reports, an impeachment proceeding against Justice Verma is under discussion. Some members suggested that he should be asked to resign, and if he refused, the CJI should initiate an in-house inquiry as the first step toward his removal by Parliament.
