Cash at judge's house: Manish Tewari demands govt statement on chronology of events

The Lok Sabha on Thursday resonated with Opposition demands for Parliament to exercise its oversight over the judiciary, in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Constitution and the Judges Inquiry Act.

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Leading this demand was Congress MP from Chandigarh, Manish Tewari, who demanded a statement from the Law Minister on the chronology of events in the row involving the recovery of unaccounted cash from the official residence of former Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma, who has since been transferred to the Allahabad High Court.

Tewari asked why the government was shying away from making a statement about what happened in this case so far and what it knew.

"Reports about aberrations in the judiciary have disturbed the conscience of all right-thinking persons in the judiciary. However, it is too premature to apportion guilt or otherwise, and yet Parliament is charged with the responsibility of exercising superintendence over the judiciary, of oversight over the judiciary," Tewari said in Zero Hour.

Referring to CJI Sanjiv Khanna's instituted in-house inquiry in the case, Tewari said while one should respect the process and wait for the inquiry report results, the Law Minister should come to the House and relate the chronology of events as they have transpired.

"Nobody is trying to say who is innocent or guilty. Nobody is trying to apportion guilt. Let the in-house inquiry process play itself out. But under Articles of the Constitution and The Judges Inquiry Act, this Parliament has the responsibility of exercising superintendence over the judiciary and we are abdicating our responsibility," said the senior Congress leader and former Union Minister.

The Judges Inquiry Act 1968 regulates the procedure for the investigation and proof of the misbehaviour or incapacity of a judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court and for the presentation of an address by Parliament to the President and for matters connected therewith. Citing this legislation, Tewari demanded that the Law Minister come before the House and make a statement on the sequence of events, what actually transpired, and what the government knows. "Why is the government not making a statement?" asked Tewari.

Before Tewari, TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee urged that the Allahabad and Kolkata High Courts "should not be made dumping grounds by way of transfers of judges facing graft allegations." "All such judges (facing allegations) are transferred either to Kolkata or Allahabad High Court. I am with the lawyers of Allahabad High Court who are opposing the transfer of Justice Varma there. Transfers will not solve the issue and these courts should not be made dumping grounds," he said.

Banerjee, while noting that judges, like MPs, were public servants, asked why the Lokpal should not inquire against accusations of corruption against the judiciary.