New Delhi [India], March 23 : Congress leader KC Venugopal reacted to the 'cash recovery' allegations against High Court Justice Yashwant Varma and said that the incident raises serious concerns about systemic corruption.
As per the media reports, a fire at the judge's house had inadvertently led to the recovery of cash by the firefighters. Media reports said the cash was found initially by fire tenders when a fire broke out in the judge's residence on March 14. The judge was not present at his house.
In his post, Venugopal mentioned that "the reported incident of mounds of cash recovered from High Court judge's residence has shocked the nation".
He further mentioned that the incident raises "serious concerns about systematic corruption". "The reported incident of mounds of cash recovered from a High Court judge's residence has shocked the nation. The judiciary is the last bastion of justice --when trust erodes here, where do citizens turn?", KC Venugopal's 'X' post read.
"This revelation, as per the reports uncovered by chance due to a fire, raises serious concerns about systemic corruption. What is furthering unnerving are the reports of a cover-up and a complete denial of the money seized", the post added.
He further questioned that 'shouldn't this be a moment for serious introspection and complete transparency towards the public and added that the nation is looking towards the Supreme Court to take up strong steps into the matter.
"Shouldn't this be a moment for serious introspection and complete transparency towards the public? The nation is looking towards the Hon'ble Supreme Court to take strong measures to uphold trust and dispel all doubts about this incident and various incidences pointing to deep-rooted corruption in the system", KC Venugopal wrote in his 'X' post.
Amid the storm of controversy surrounding the alleged recovery of cash during a recent fire incident, Justice Yashwant Varma addressed the issue to the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, striving to defend his integrity against what he called unfounded allegations.
Addressing the gravity of the situation, Justice Varma stated, "For a judge, reputation and character are of utmost importance. Sadly, mine have been gravely tarnished and irreparably damaged by baseless claims built on unsubstantiated innuendos and the unfounded assumption that the cash reportedly discovered during the fire belonged to me."
Justice Varma vehemently denied any link to the alleged cash, stating, "I categorically reject any suggestion that we removed currency from the storeroom. We were neither shown nor given any sacks of burnt currency. The limited debris recovered during the incident was confined to a particular section of the residence, and there was no evidence of any currency."