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.
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