New Delhi:

Calling himself a “trenchant critic” of the Collegium system, Senior Advocate Harish Salve has said it is “not equipped” to deal with cases like the alleged recovery of huge piles of cash from Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma. In light of new information, Mr Salve insisted, the judge’s transfer to the Allahabad High Court must be put on hold. 

Speaking exclusively to NDTV on Friday, Mr Salve pointed out that the Delhi fire chief has said there was no recovery of cash from the judge’s bungalow in the national capital, giving rise to an “odd and murky” situation. 

After reports emerged on Friday of Rs 15 crore being recovered from Justice Verma’s house in Lutyens’ Delhi following a fire call on March 14, which was Holi, Delhi Fire Services Chief Atul Garg said no cash was found by firefighters at the residence. 

The Supreme Court also issued a press statement saying that the transfer of Mr Varma was not related to the in-house inquiry being conducted by the Delhi High Court. The Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, it said, will submit his report on Friday. 

To a question on what the recovery indicates about the state of judicial accountability in India, Mr Salve said, “I was proceeding on the assumption that there was a recovery. I believe the Delhi fire chief has said there was no recovery. It is now a very odd situation in which the Supreme Court Collegium has issued transfer orders for the judge and an inquiry has been ordered and, on the other hand, it is being said there is no recovery. If there is no recovery, what is the inquiry about?”

“I don’t know what’s going on, because if such a serious allegation is being falsely made, it raises very serious questions. And if the allegation is true, then again it raises very serious questions,” he asserted.