Supreme Court releases cash probe report on Delhi High Court judge

9 months ago

The Supreme Court has released an internal inquiry report, videos and photographs related to allegations of unaccounted cash found at the residence of Justice Yashwant Verma of the Delhi High Court.

Transcript

00:00In a rare public disclosure, the Supreme Court uploaded reports, photos and videos related

00:05to the allegations of unaccounted cash discovered at the official residence of Justice Yashwant

00:10Verma, a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court.

00:13The materials now available on the court's website reveal the findings of an internal

00:17investigation and Justice Verma's detailed response denying the allegations.

00:22The Supreme Court also uploaded videos and photographs which Delhi Police Commissioner

00:25Sanjay Arora perpetually shared with Chief Justice Upadhyay.

00:29A three-judge panel has been formed by the Supreme Court to probe the case.

00:33Justice Verma has denied the allegations, calling them a conspiracy to malign him.

00:37He also claimed that the room where the cash was found was accessible to everyone, including

00:41his workers, gardeners and even staff from the Central Public Works Department.

00:46The Supreme Court has written to the High Court and asked questions from Justice Verma.

00:50The Supreme Court seeks the source of the cash and details of staff members from the

00:54last six months at Verma's residence.

00:57Justice Verma has been explicitly asked not to delete any data from his phone.

01:04Corruption in any form is a termite that destroys the institution and it does great injustice

01:11to any institution if a corrupt person or anyone who has taken cash is found in terms

01:16of the good work that those people there are doing.

01:18So we would expect that the truth should come out at the earliest and the logical steps

01:22that follow must take place thereafter.

01:26In the Judge Cash Hall probe, the Supreme Court has released a report which has certain

01:30findings in the entire incident.

01:32The Supreme Court releases the High Court's Internal Inquiry Report, where the Supreme

01:36Court has uploaded videos and photographs of the cash haul which had taken place in

01:43the storeroom of Justice Verma's residence.

01:45The Delhi Police Chief has shared the video of the fire incident that took place on March

01:4914 that led to the revelation of the cash wads in Justice Verma's residence.

01:55In the video, half-burnt wads of cash have been recovered and the Delhi High Court's

01:59Chief Justice has recommended a detailed probe in the entire matter, but Justice Verma has

02:03denied allegations in the 25-page inquiry report.

02:10Now, while there's an uproar about the entire incident, Justice Verma has remained staunch

02:16and denied the allegations that have been made against him and he's claimed that the

02:20entire issue is being raked up to malign him and in fact, it is to frame him.

02:25He's said that no cash was placed in the storeroom of his residence.

02:29He's also gone on to say that the cash does not belong to him or his family.

02:33He further said that no sacks of burnt currency were found and that no cash was shown to his

02:38family or the staff.

02:39This is what Justice Yashwant Verma has said while denying the claims that have been made

02:44against him.

02:46My colleague Srishti Ojha is joining me live on the broadcast with more details.

02:49Srishti, we just had a look at what the probe findings, the Supreme Court that has released

02:54the videos of the burnt cash that has been found at Justice Verma's residence.

02:58Give us more details on what exactly the Supreme Court has released, what is there in the probe

03:02findings?

03:03Well, it's definitely an important development that took place yesterday considering the

03:08Supreme Court has itself now officially released a press release which includes not just the

03:13communications that have happened with regard to this incident, but the detailed inquiry

03:17report that was submitted by the Delhi High Court Chief Justice and also the photos and

03:22videos of the alleged incident, which was sent to him by the Delhi Police Commissioner,

03:26in which we can clearly see what is cash, 500 notes also burning.

03:31Now talking about the inquiry report by the Delhi High Court Chief Justice, in his report

03:36he's told the Chief Justice of India that the room where the incident took place had

03:41access to, could be accessed by people who were living there in the bungalow, along with

03:48the servants, gardeners and also CPWD personals deployed there.

03:53He thereafter said that a deeper probe in this issue is needed.

03:57Talking about the case, the Chief Justice denied all these allegations, calling them

04:02preposterous, saying that the cash placed, there was no cash that was placed in the storeroom

04:08by him or his family.

04:10The cash did not belong to them and also that there's complete absence of any stacks of

04:15this allegedly burnt currency.

04:18No such cash was shown to his family or staff that were present at the house on the day

04:22of the incident.

04:23According to him, it clearly appears to be a conspiracy to frame him and his reputation

04:29and character has been severely tarnished and damaged because of these allegations.

04:34Now talking about the action that has been taken, the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice

04:38of India has constituted a three-member committee comprising of two Chief Justices of High Courts

04:44and also one High Court judge to probe, to further probe into these allegations.

04:48And as of now, all the judicial work has also been withdrawn from Justice Yashwant Verma.

04:55You know, Srishti, Justice Verma has said that the room that the cash was in was accessible

05:00to everybody.

05:01But we're hearing that the Delhi High Court Chief Justice has dismissed Justice Verma's

05:05claim that the room was accessible to everyone.

05:07So could you explain to our viewers what exactly he said?

05:10Well, the thing is, Justice Yashwant Verma has said in his response that the room was

05:18used as a storeroom, was in one corner of the premises and was in a completely different

05:23corner as opposed to the area where they, him and his family stay.

05:29The Chief Justice has in his statement, in his response said that the inquiry that was

05:34conducted by him, prime FSI, does not reveal the possibility of entry or access to the

05:39room by any person other than those who were residing in the bungalow, the servants, the

05:44gardeners and the CPWD personnels.

05:46So even as per the Delhi High Court Chief Justice, the room could be accessed by those

05:52who was living there, the servants, the gardeners and the CPWD personnels.

05:56Justice Verma has also, however, claimed that the room remained unlocked.

06:01The room was not locked and was accessible from different gates to the residents.

06:06And therefore, he's questioned, why would anybody keep currency and notes in such a

06:11room which is already accessible by so many people?

06:14So those are the statements which have come in.

06:16And the High Court Chief Justice has also acknowledged that the room could be accessed

06:20by not just people living there, but also the gardeners, the servants and the CPWD personnels.

06:25And therefore, he opined that the entire matter warrants a deeper probe.

06:30Thereafter, we have seen a three-member committee has been constituted as part of the in-house

06:34inquiry procedure to further probe into the allegations that have been made against Justice Verma.

06:38Right.

06:39Srishti, the High Court has asked the Delhi Police for certain things when it comes to

06:43the entire probe.

06:44So explain to our viewers what these demands are, what the High Court has directed the

06:48police to provide them.

06:49Well, as I mentioned earlier, the photographs of the alleged incident, the video were all

06:57sent by the commissioner of police to the Delhi High Court Chief Justice.

07:01Not just that, there was also communication where the Chief Justice of India had asked

07:05the Delhi High Court Chief Justice for information, including the details of his staff, the personal

07:14security officer, and the person who has been posted at his residence for the last six months.

07:19Mobile service providers were also asked to provide call record details.

07:23Now, those call record details from the last six months of his official or any other mobile

07:28number have already been sent by the Delhi High Court Chief Justice to the CJI.

07:32So quite an intensive inquiry has already been undergoing.

07:37And now, further inquiry would also be conducted by this three-member committee, which has

07:41been constituted by the Chief Justice of India to probe into these allegations.

07:46Srishti, what actions have been taken against Justice Verma because right now nothing has

07:50been proven.

07:51The cash was largely unaccounted for.

07:53But we heard that he was sent on a temporary leave.

07:55He's not supposed to be handling any cases.

07:58Do explain to us what action has been taken against him.

08:01Well, as far as action is concerned, when we are talking about a sitting judge of a

08:07constitutional court, the procedure that is followed in these cases is very different

08:11and in-house inquiry is conducted against them, which is exactly what we see is going

08:16on.

08:17A three-member committee has been constituted.

08:19As far as action is concerned, as of now, in the interim, considering the inquiry is

08:22still ongoing, all the judicial work has been withdrawn from him.

08:27He's not been, he will not be assigned any cases, he will not be hearing any cases.

08:31Other than that, a proposal for his transfer is also being considered.

08:35The proposal of the transfer was sent by the Chief Justice of India to the Delhi High Court.

Supreme Court releases cash probe report on Delhi High Court judge

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