Cash at judge’s home: VP Dhankhar frowns over non-registration of FIR

New Delhi, May 19 Training his guns on the judiciary over perceived wrongdoings hinted by the ‘cash at judge’s house’ episode, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday batted for greater accountability in democracy and the need for “the truth to come out” with the registration of an FIR in the matter.

Speaking at the release of the book ‘The Constitution We Adopted (With Art Work),’ Dhankhar hit out at non-registration of an FIR even after burnt notes were recovered from a judge’s home in Lutyens’ Delhi.

“We have the rule of law in our country and the criminal justice system, which requires an FIR. The rule of law is the very foundation of society,” he said.

Referring to the ‘cash at judge’s house’, he said he has consciously held the fort on the issue as “every person in the country is waiting… they want nothing but the absolute truth to come out”.

Talking about an individual’s right to innocence till proven guilty, the VP said, “I am casting no aspersions, but all I am saying is that when it comes to national interest, we cannot divide in compartments as insiders or outsiders.”

He was talking about the episode involving Delhi High Court’s Justice Yashwant Varma, who had said the burnt money recovered from his official residence in March in Delhi did not belong either to him or members of his family. Justice Varma has since been shifted to the Allahabad High Court.

During the book release event, on the one hand, the VP targeted the judiciary for perceived lack of accountability, on the other, he expressed solidarity with the head of the judiciary, Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai.

He hailed the CJI for reminding officials, representing the Executive, during an event on Sunday that adherence to protocol is indispensable and reiterating the equal importance of the three pillars of democracy - Judiciary, Legislature, and Executive. The CJI was upset over the absence of the chief secretary and the Maharashtra police chief at the event where he was speaking for the first time after assuming charge as the head of the judiciary.

Earlier, Dhankhar touched upon the need for greater transparency in democratic institutions, saying a democracy is to be defined by three aspects: Expression, dialogue, and accountability.

“If expression is throttled, democracy is weakened. Similarly, keeping an institution away from probe and scrutiny is the surest way to bring it down,” said Dhankhar, a subtle reminder for accountability in the ‘cash at judge’s home’ episode.

“If we have to really nurture democracy, it is inescapable that we hold every institution as well as individuals accountable in accordance with law,” he said.

Reflecting as a ‘soldier of the judiciary’, he said, “I can never envisage that I will do anything which would compromise the dignity of the judiciary.”

He also said that though he agreed with the CJI’s reminder to the Executive about protocol, he would continue to raise issues related to the judiciary.

“A robust, independent judicial system is the safest guarantee for the citizen and also the survival of democracy,” he said.

He said the outgoing CJI Sanjiv Khanna set very high standards in accountability, and “he needs to be commended for the incident, at the residence of a judge, to which I referred”.

Former CJI Khanna had promptly formed a three-member committee to investigate the allegations against Justice Varma.

Talking about the perceived hurdles in fair probe in matters related to members of the higher judiciary, Dhankhar said, “We all are united in nurturing the Constitution’s spirit. I am the one who held the fort because of legacy issues and a mechanism evolved by a judgment in the early 1990s.”

“The time has come to revisit because the scenario is indeed one for which every person in the country is waiting. They want nothing but the absolute truth to come out," he said.

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