NEW DELHI: The Congress on Friday took a swipe at the government on the issue, saying the fire brigade is doing a better job than the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI.
With the Supreme Court initiating the transfer of a Delhi High Court judge after alleged recovery of a large stash of cash from his residence, the Congresssaid the issue cannot be hushed up by a mere transfer and added it is important to find out whose money it is to maintain the country's faith in the judiciary.
A media report has claimed that a fire, which broke out in the residential bungalow of Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, resulted in recovery of a huge pile of cash.
The Supreme Court collegium is stated to have initiated the process to transfer Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court following a major controversy over the alleged recovery of a large stash of cash from his official residence here.
Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said the matter of recovery of such a huge amount of cash from the judge's house is a very serious one, adding it cannot be hushed up by mere transfer.
"Justice Verma was hearing the Unnao rape case and many other serious cases. To maintain the country's faith in the judiciary, it is important to find out whose money it is and why it was given to the judge," Khera said.
"While removing the blindfold from the eyes of the goddess of justice, a former CJI had said that the law is not blind, it looks at everyone equally.
This should also be proved in this case. By the way, the fire brigade is doing a better job than the ED and the CBI," he added.
Should not comment on court affairs: BJP
The BJP on Friday reacted cautiously to the discovery of a huge amount of cash from the residence of a Delhi High Court judge, saying the party should not comment on the affairs of courts and that the CJI was already seized of the issue.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra cited media reports to say that the Chief Justice of India (CJI) had taken a decision on the matter, which has cast an uncomfortable public eye on the higher judiciary following a newspaper report that firefighters and police stumbled upon a large amount of cash at Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma's residence while trying to douse a fire.
However, the BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya noted in a post on X that Justice Varma had "halted the CBI investigations into corruption allegations against Shibu Soren, as directed by the Lokpal".
Former Jharkhand chief minister Soren is facing corruption allegations and his party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, now led by his son Hemant Soren, is part of the opposition INDIA bloc.
The judge was not at home when the fire broke out.
The Supreme Court collegium on Friday commenced an initial inquiry against Justice Varma and is learnt to have recommended his transfer.
The five-member collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna held an urgent meeting following the reported incident and decided to initiate the process of shifting Justice Varma out of the Delhi High Court.
Justice Varma's proposed transfer can come into effect after the Centre accepts the collegium's recommendation, which is yet to be sent officially.
The collegium can also take further follow-up action, if required.
