Opposition lawmakers in the Lok Sabha on Thursday raised serious concern over the recovery of cash from the official residence of a High Court judge, Yashwant Varma, in Delhi. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal was called for a statement, and strong mechanisms for judicial accountability were demanded.
Such a cash recovery would greatly erode public trust in the judiciary, denounced Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee, who was speaking to reporters. He asked why corruption allegations against judges were never subjected to automatic investigation. “What’s the basis for the Chief Justice of India (CJI) being the requirement for such an inquiry into judicial corruption?” Banerjee also said if a complaint is made, an investigation must immediately commence.
The other was that such cases should not be dealt with within judicial mechanisms and should be referred to the independent anti-corruption body as Lokpal Banerjee proposed. Justice Varma had transferred to the Allahabad High Court, he claimed, and he criticised Justice Varma’s transfer to the Allahabad High Court, saying that “courts like the Allahabad and Calcutta High Courts are being madeNNGs for controversial judges.”
Congress leader Manish Tewari also joined in Banerjee’s worry that Parliament ought to exercise its function of exercising its oversight over the judiciary. CJI had initiated an in-house inquiry, he pointed out, and he added that the Law minister should have a clear timeline of actions that happened. “The Constitution and the Judges Inquiry Act expect Parliament to exercise supervision that nobody is pre-judging guilt or innocence.” This is abdicating our duty, he warned.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Praveen Patel also commented on the issue, saying that public trust in the judiciary is important. He admitted there is growing dissatisfaction in the bar associations and wading over the disclosure of judicial misconduct allegations.
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