The matter about the alleged recovery of cash from the residence of a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court was raised in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, with Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar saying he will find a mechanism for a structured discussion on the issue.
Raising the issue in the morning session, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh also sought the Chair’s response on judicial accountability and reminded him about a pending notice regarding the impeachment of a judge of the Allahabad High Court.
“This morning, we have read about a shocking case of huge amounts of cash unearthed at the residence of a judge of the Delhi High Court,” Ramesh said.
He also pointed out that earlier, 50 members of Parliament had submitted a notice to the Chairman regarding certain remarks that a judge of the Allahabad High Court made.
Ramesh said the Chairman himself has repeatedly spoken about the urgency for judicial accountability.
The senior Congress member also sought to remind Dhankhar that he had directed the Leader of the House on this issue.
“I request that you please make some observations on this and give necessary directions to the government to come up with a proposal for increasing judicial accountability,” he added.
On the alleged recovery of the cash, Dhankhar said what “bothers” him is that the incident happened but did not come to light immediately.
He said if such an incident had been related to a politician, a bureaucrat, or an industrialist, the person concerned would have become a ‘target’ immediately.
“And, therefore, systemic response, which is transparent, accountable, effective, I am sure will be on the way,” he said.
The Chairman further said he would contact the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition and find a mechanism for a structured discussion during the session.
On Friday, a senior lawyer expressed pain and shock before the Delhi High Court over the alleged recovery of huge cash from the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma, who did not hold court today.
The Supreme Court Collegium has reportedly decided to transfer Justice Varma from the Delhi High Court to his parent Allahabad High Court, citing allegations of recovery of huge cash from his residence here.
On the impeachment matter, the Chairman said he had received a representation from 55 members of the Rajya Sabha.
Dhankhar further informed the members that he has taken all necessary steps to get verification from the signatories to the representation.
“Most members responded positively, helping me perform my duty,” he said and appealed to the remaining members to respond to the e-mails sent to them.
Dhankhar further said if the number of signatories is above 50, he will proceed accordingly.
“Therefore, most of the members have cooperated. Those members who are not done so far, may please do it in response to the second mail sent to them. Then the process will not be delayed at my level, even for a moment,” he said.
The Chairman also informed the House that of the 55 members who signed the representation, a member’s signature appeared twice, and the member concerned denied his signature.
