Delhi judge transferred after massive cash found at residence post-fire
What's the story
Delhi High Court Justice Yashwant Verma has been transferred back to the Allahabad HC after massive unaccounted cash was discovered at his official residence following a fire incident.
The Supreme Court Collegium, headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, reached the unanimous decision after hearing about the matter through official channels, India Today reported.
The money was found in various rooms of the judge's bungalow during Holi vacations.
Details
Fire incident leads to cash discovery
The fire at Justice Verma's official residence occurred when he was out of the city.
His family members immediately notified emergency services, who found a huge amount of unaccounted cash in different rooms after the fire was doused.
After learning about the incident, the Collegium met and unanimously decided to transfer Justice Verma to his previous posting at the Allahabad HC.
Possible impeachment
Collegium considers further action against Justice Verma
Sources told India Today that it also discussed initiating an inquiry and possible impeachment proceedings against him.
Some members of the Collegium felt that simply transferring Justice Verma could tarnish the judiciary's reputation and diminish public faith in the legal system.
No response has yet been received from Justice Verma regarding the cash recovery.
Guidelines
Supreme Court's in-house procedure for judicial misconduct
The SC laid down an in-house process to probe allegations of corruption, misconduct, or irregularities against any HC or SC judge in 1999.
Under the guidelines, if the CJI is not satisfied with a judge's explanation or feels further probe is warranted, he has to constitute an internal panel of one SC judge and two HC chief justices.
Based on its findings, the concerned judge could be asked to resign, and if they refuse, impeachment proceedings could be initiated.