NEW DELHI: Emphasising that India being a mature democracy which is governed by a rule of law, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday raised concern over the case involving Delhi High Court Justice Yashwant Varma, from whom official residence a significant amount of unaccounted cash was recovered, saying every crime must be investigated and an FIR be registered.
Interacting with the students and faculty members of National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) in Kochi, Kerala, the Vice President noted that the world looks at India as a mature democracy and equality before law means every crime is probed properly.
“…If the money is so huge in volume, we have to find out if it is tainted. What is the source of this money? How was it stocked in the official residence of a judge? It belonged to whom? Several penal provisions are violated in the process. I do hope an FIR will be registered,” he said while addressing the gathering.
A huge amount of unaccounted cash was found at the official residence of Delhi High Court Justice Yashwant Varma after a fire incident in March. The discovery led to an in-house inquiry by a committee of senior judges appointed by the Chief Justice of India.
Dhankhar, describing the situation as “worrisome” further told the students and faculty members of the college that uncomfortable truths in our institutions must be confronted.
“We must have courage to confront problems. We must not rationalise failures. We must always remember we belong to a nation that has to define a global narrative. We have to be architects of a world that lives in peace and harmony. We must have first courage to confront uncomfortable truths within our own institutions,” he, according to an official press release, said.
He, however, also appreciated the work being done by the judiciary in the country, saying judges who do a lot of work must be protected.
“I’m all for the independence of the Judiciary. I’m a strong votary of protecting judges. Judges deal with very difficult situations. They decide cases against the executive. They deal in certain areas where legislature matters. We must protect our Judges from frivolous litigation.
So I’m not against the mechanism evolving, but when something like this happens. Some things are worrisome,” he was quoted as saying by the official communique.
“The judiciary in our country commands immense trust, immense respect for the people. People believe in the judiciary like no other institution. If their faith is eroded — shaken in the institution — we will be faced with a grim situation. A nation of 1.4 billion will suffer,” he added.
Moreover, the Vice President also expressed satisfaction saying things are improving and moving in the right direction once again.
“We had turbulent times in the judiciary recently. But the good thing — and soothing — is that a big change has taken place.
We are seeing good times now for the judiciary. The present Chief Justice and his immediate predecessor gave us a new era of accountability and transparency. They are getting things back on the rails,” he added.
Dhankar also expressed concern over post retirement assignments for judges, and said certain constitutional authorities are not permitted to hold assignments after their office.
He also talked about the amendments to the Preamble of the Indian Constitution, and stated, “There have been a lot of issues about the Preamble of the Constitution. Well first let me tell you, the Preamble of the Indian constitution is something like parenthood to children.”
He said historically no country’s Preamble was ever changed.
The Preamble of our Constitution was changed during a time when hundreds and thousands of people were behind bars. The darkest period of our democracy, the emergency era.
“You will have to think aloud what happened in the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act. What happened in 44th and what was left over? Why were lakhs jailed without access to the judiciary?,” he told the students.
Agencies