Kochi: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday said he hopes a criminal investigation will be launched into the large stash of cash found at a judge’s official residence in New Delhi, comparing the incident to the “Ides of March” — a reference to Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and a symbol of looming misfortune.
Referring to the incident, he said Now the point is, if that cash was found, the system should have moved immediately and the first process would have been to deal with it as a criminal act, find out those who are culpable and bring them to justice.
While interacting with the students and faculty members at the National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS), the Vice President likened the cash discovered at the High Court judge’s residence to the “Ides of March.”
He said the judiciary faced its own “Ides of March” on the night of March 14–15, when large amounts of cash were officially acknowledged to have been found, yet no FIR was filed.
Dhankhar stressed that the system should have treated it as a criminal matter from the start, but added that the Centre is currently constrained by a Supreme Court ruling from the early 1990s.
“But so far, there has been no FIR. The government at the central level is handicapped because an FIR cannot be registered given a judgment of the Supreme Court rendered in the early 90s,” he said.
The Vice President said the world looks at India as a mature democracy where there has to be rule of law, equality before law, which means every crime must be investigated.
“If the money is so huge in volume, we have to find out: is it tainted money? What is the source of this money? How was it stacked in the official residence of a judge? Who did it belong to? Several penal provisions are violated in the process. I do hope an FIR will be registered,” he said.
“We must go to the root of the matter. Our judiciary -in which people’s faith is unshakable- its very foundations have been shaken. The citadel is tottering because of this incident,” Dhankar added.
His statement comes amidst reports that Justice Yashwant Varma was facing an impeachment in Parliament after an unspecified amount of money was found in his official residence following a fire.
Justice Varma has denied all allegations and submitted responses to both the Delhi High Court Chief Justice and a Supreme Court-appointed panel.
Despite this, judicial work was withdrawn from him, and he was later transferred to the Allahabad High Court, where the Chief Justice was directed by the apex court not to assign him any judicial duties for the time being.
The panel investigating the incident has recorded statements from over 50 people, including Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora and Delhi Fire Service chief Atul Garg, who were among the first responders.
During his interaction, Dhankar also said the judiciary in the country commands immense trust and respect of the people.
“People believe in the judiciary like in no other institution. If their faith in the institution is eroded, we will be faced with a grim situation. A nation of 1.4 billion will suffer,” the Vice President said.
Dhankar said he was aghast that a functionary of the executive like the CBI director is appointed with the participation of Chief Justice of India.
“Is this happening elsewhere in the world? Can it happen under our constitutional scheme? Why should an appointment of the executive be made by anyone other than the executive?,” he asked.
Noting that the CBI director is not the senior-most person in the hierarchy, the Vice President said he has above him the CVC, Cabinet Secretary, and all Secretaries. “After all, he’s heading a department,” he said.
He said if one institution — the Judiciary, the Executive, or the Legislature — makes an incursion into the domain of the other, it has the potential to upset the apple cart.
“It can create unmanageable problems that can be potentially very dangerous for our democracy. For example, adjudication has to take place within the Judiciary. Judgments are to be scripted by the Judiciary — not by the Legislature or the Executive.
“Similarly, executive functions are performed by the Executive, because you elect the political executive through elections. They are accountable to you. They have to perform. But if executive functions are done by the Legislature or the Judiciary– that will be antithetical to the essence and spirit of the Doctrine of Separation of Powers,” the Vice President said.
Dhankar said there had been turbulent times in the judiciary recently.
“But the soothing thing is that a big change has taken place. We are seeing good times now for the judiciary. The present Chief Justice and his immediate predecessor give us a new era of accountability and transparency. They are getting things back on the rails,” he said.
However, the last two years were very disturbing and challenging, the Vice President said.
“Thoughtlessly, several steps were taken; it will take a while to undo them. Fundamentally, institutions function with optimal performance,” he added.
