Relief for Justice Yashwant Verma in Cash Scandal, No FIR to Be Filed

The Supreme Court refused to consider the petition seeking registration of a case against Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Verma in the cash case. The apex court has said that the matter is being investigated by an in-house committee and after the report comes, the Chief Justice of the country (CJI) has many options to take action. In such a situation, it would not be appropriate to consider this petition.

Cross-Examination between judge and lawyer

Referring to other cases, advocate Nedumpara said, "Please see what happened in Kerala. In the POCSO case, allegations were made against a retired judge and the police could not even write the name of the accused. While the allegations were serious. Only the police can investigate it. Courts cannot investigate it." To this, Justice Oka said, "Please read both the judgments laying down the in-house investigation procedure. After the procedure, all options are open."

Nedumpara then argued, "The common man keeps asking why no FIR was filed on March 14, why no arrests were made, why no seizures were made, why no criminal law was applied. Why did it take a week to release this scam. Why did the Collegium not say that it has videos etc."

Relief for Justice Yashwant Verma

The bench said, "We have seen the petition. These questions have been raised. Now an internal investigation is going on. But we cannot interfere at this stage and then the Chief Justice of India has all options open." Nedumpara replied, "A common man will not understand this." Justice Oka remarked, "You should educate the common man about the decisions of the Supreme Court which makes the law."

Yashwant Singh Cash Case

A bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna had refused to give an urgent hearing to the petition after it was mentioned by advocate Nedumpara. Nedumpara and three others had filed a petition on Sunday seeking direction to the Delhi Police to register an FIR in the case.

The case hit the headlines after a fire broke out in the store room of Justice Verma's Lutyens' Delhi residence on March 14, following which a huge amount of burnt currency notes was found there. The incident has created a stir in the judiciary and new developments are now emerging in its investigation.

CJI Khanna has formed a committee for investigation

To investigate the matter, Supreme Court Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna had constituted a three-judge committee, which is headed by Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu. The committee also includes Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice G.S. Sandhawalia and Karnataka High Court judge Justice Anu Sivaraman. The committee recently visited Justice Verma's residence and inspected the spot. On Thursday, the committee also questioned Delhi Fire Service Director Atul Garg, whose statement was recorded. According to sources, Delhi Police has sealed the area where the half-burnt notes were found, and it has also been videographed.