'Why These Double Standards?': Harish Salve Decodes Justice Yashwant Varma's Burning Cash Scandal

Legal giant Padma Bhushan Harish Salve, King's Counsel (UK), former Solicitor General of India, and Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India, vehemently criticised the handling of the case involving cash being burned at Justice Yashwant Varma's house and said that it was Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna's “mistake” not to agree to a CBI investigation and instead recommend setting up an in-house committee to probe the matter.

Salve, however, said CJI Sanjiv Khanna's personal integrity is beyond question.

"Why an in-house committee? Then CJI Sanjiv Khanna made a mistake. He should have just asked the CBI to probe, keeping the Supreme Court in the loop," Salve told Republic Media Network's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami during an interview at Republic Headquarters in Noida.

He was speaking at the forum 'Legends'.

He raised serious concerns about the lack of transparency in Justice Yashwant Varma's cash-burning scandal and asked, "Why these double standards?"

Asked on his opinion about the stacks of cash worth crores found at Justice Varma's house triggering a nationwide uproar and the case not reaching finality even after several months, he said, "I have said this before and I am saying it again. It might not be a popular thing to say, but it has to be said... When you see cash burning in the house of a person who is paid a salary by the Government of India, the police are called, the CBI is called. What is the reason for saying you cannot prosecute a judge without checking with the Chief Justice, without his consent? It is to ensure that it is not a false complaint by a disgruntled litigant."

"If it was cash burning at a minister's house, what would you have done? You would have called the CBI, and the TV channels would have asked, '48 hours—why has he not been arrested?' We are today over six months away from the incident. Are any of us satisfied with what has happened? No. What is this talk of 'He must resign and go away'? In the case of a minister, can you say the same? Why these double standards?," he asked.

On being asked why Justice Varma was allowed to be transferred to the Allahabad High Court after the incident, Salve said, "Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, whom I know very well as a lawyer and as a person... he is a very fine person. His personal integrity is beyond question. I think he made a mistake, and this is the judicial ecosystem in which they are now all functioning. It is the judicial ecosystem where they struck down the National Judicial Appointments Commission. He should have just said, 'I have seen this complaint. It doesn't appear to be a frivolous or motivated complaint. CBI, please investigate. Keep me in the loop.' That would have been the end of the matter."

He further questioned CJI Khanna's order for an in-house committee report on the matter and asked if the same rule would apply to a politician.

"Why an in-house committee? Today, if you catch a minister in the government and the chief minister says, 'I am setting up an in-house committee,' the media will laugh all the way and say, 'Oh! What a lovely whitewash!' Will you ever believe a committee that says he is innocent? No, because the committee lacks credibility. What if those four judges said, 'We saw cash burning but there was nothing wrong'? What would have happened to the image of the judiciary? Would anybody in the public have been convinced?," he said.

Salve had earlier also raised serious questions about the Supreme Court's integrity in connection with Justice Varma's case.

Delhi High Court Judge Justice Yashwant Varma is under investigation after a large amount of unaccounted cash was allegedly recovered from his residence following a fire that broke out on March 14, during the Holi weekend.

According to reports, neither Justice Yashwant Varma nor his wife were in town at that time, as they were in Bhopal. A call was made from their residence to the fire department, after which firefighters arrived and extinguished the flames.

After the incident surfaced, the Supreme Court Collegium transferred Justice Yashwant Varma to his parent Allahabad High Court. However, this decision drew criticism from the judicial fraternity, which questioned why stronger action was not taken, given the seriousness of the allegations.