Justice Yashwant Verma is in trouble, CJI takes away judicial work; panel of 3 judges will investigate

The Supreme Court has taken away judicial work from Justice Yashwant Verma of Delhi High Court. Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjeev Khanna has constituted a 3-member committee to investigate the allegations against Justice Verma. This committee is part of the in-house investigation. This committee includes Chief Justice Sheel Nagu of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia of Himachal Pradesh High Court and Judge Anu Sivaraman of Karnataka High Court. The CJI has directed the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court not to give any judicial work to Justice Verma. This step has been taken in view of the seriousness of the allegations.

Cash recovery case

According to media reports, unaccounted cash was recovered from the fire in Justice Verma’s house. A huge amount of cash was allegedly found when a fire broke out in Justice Verma’s Delhi residence at around 11.35 pm on March 14. Delhi Fire Department personnel had to reach the spot and extinguish the fire. Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg has denied claims of firefighters receiving cash.

The Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court has submitted a report on the matter to the CJI. The Supreme Court will soon publish the report and Justice Verma’s response on its website.

Supreme Court’s decision

The Supreme Court Collegium had decided to send Justice Verma back to his parent High Court, Allahabad High Court. However, in the full court meeting held on Friday, it was suggested that mere transfer is not enough. Concrete action is needed against the judge. The full court unanimously decided to conduct an in-house inquiry. The transfer is considered as the first step. However, this transfer is still awaiting approval from the government.