Chandigarh: Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday said the government of the day is handicapped, as it can’t register an FIR because there is a judicial order.
Dhankhar made the remarks in connection with the Justice Yashwant Varma episode.
A fire broke out at Varma’s residence in the national capital in March when he was a judge in the Delhi High Court, leading to the discovery of several burnt sacks of cash from the outhouse.
The four members of the Bar association, led by its president Sartej Singh Narula, called on the vice-president at the Punjab Raj Bhavan, where Dhankhar arrived on Thursday evening before travelling to Shimla on Friday.
Narula later said the matter about Justice Varma came up during general discussions.
According to an official statement issued on Friday evening, the vice-president said, “The government of the day is handicapped. It can’t register an FIR because there is a judicial order, which is more than three decades old.
“It provides a virtually impregnable cover. Unless permission is accorded by a functionary at the highest level in the judiciary, an FIR can’t be registered.
“So I pose a question to myself, in deep pain, worried and concerned — why was that permission not given? That was the minimum that could have been done at the earliest occasion”.
He added, “I have raised the issue. If a motion is brought to remove a judge, is that the answer? If a crime was committed, a culpable act shaking the foundations of democracy, why wasn’t it punished?” “We have lost more than three months, and the investigation has not even been initiated. Whenever you go to court, they ask why the FIR was delayed.
“Does the committee of judges have a constitutional sanction? Does it have statutory sanction? Can its report result in any outcome? Can the report, by itself, be actionable? The Constitution says the mechanism to remove a judge can be initiated either in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha,” Dhankhar added.
The vice-president said even the president of India or the governors have immunity from prosecution only till the time they are in office.
“No other constitutional office enjoys this immunity, and that too while in office,” he said.
“I hope an FIR is filed,” Dhankhar said.
“Let us not destroy the idea of democracy. Let us not dilute our ethical standards. Let us not decimate integrity. A very painful incident happened mid-March in Delhi at the residence of a sitting judge. There was a cash haul, obviously tainted, unaccounted, and illegal,” he added.
The incident appeared in the public domain after 6-7 days, he said.
“Imagine what would have happened had it not appeared (in public domain). We don’t know if it was an isolated incident. Whenever such a cash haul is made, the system has to find out whose money was it. What was the money trail? Where did the loose cash come from? Were big sharks involved? Did the money influence judicial work? All these questions bothered lawyers and common people alike,” Dhankhar said.
“Let the skeletons come out of the closet. Why was there no FIR? Why has there been no probe,” Dhankhar asked.
The vice-president added that he was happy that the Bar associations are picking up the issue, which will restore people’s confidence.
“If you remember the famous case — Sarwan Singh vs State of Punjab, 1957 — the gap between establishing the truth is sometimes very thin. The distance between ‘may be true’ and ‘must be true’ is very thin. But this thin distance has to be negotiated by evidence of unimpeachable veracity.
“I am not aware as to who is guilty. But one thing is for sure — a crime of great enormity took place, which shook the foundations of the judiciary and democracy. I hope the matter will be addressed,” Dhankhar said.
On Wednesday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju underlined the government’s resolve to take all political parties on board in moving an impeachment motion against Justice Varma, saying corruption in the judiciary cannot be approached through a “political prism”.
Rijiju told reporters that he has already initiated discussions with all the political parties to bring the motion in Parliament’s Monsoon Session starting July 21 against Varma.
Although Varma claimed ignorance about the cash discovery, a Supreme Court-appointed committee indicted him after speaking to a number of witnesses and recording his statement.
The apex court has since transferred Varma to his parent cadre, the Allahabad High Court, where he has not been assigned any judicial work.
