Amidst this controversy, the decision of the Supreme Court Collegium to transfer Justice Yashwant Verma to Allahabad High Court was strongly opposed by the lawyer’s organizations in Uttar Pradesh. However, the central government approved the transfer on March 28. Despite protests from the Allahabad and Lucknow Bar Associations, Justice Verma took oath as a judge of the Allahabad High Court on Saturday.
Chief Justice of India Sanjeev Khanna has asked the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court not to assign any judicial work to Justice Verma for the time being. The internal investigation of the cash recovered from Justice Yashwant Verma’s residence is not yet complete.
The whole controversy started when a fire broke out in Justice Verma’s house on the evening of March 14. The fire fighters of Delhi Fire Service , inadvertently recovered a large amount of cash. Its video also went viral. Justice Verma and his wife were not in Delhi on that evening as they were traveling in Madhya Pradesh. At the time of the fire, only Justice Verma’s daughter and elderly mother were at home.
The recovery of cash raised corruption charges against the judge and even a demand for impeachment against him also arose. On 21 March, Supreme Court Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna initiated an internal inquiry into the matter and assigned the responsibility of conducting the investigation to three judges of the High Court.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court also published the report of the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court on the incident, along with the response of Justice Verma. Justice Verma denied any wrongdoing and said that there could be a conspiracy to implicate him.
At the same time, after the news of his transfer to Allahabad High Court, the Allahabad High Court Bar Association had announced an indefinite strike. However, the strike was postponed on 29 March, a day after which the Chief Justice directed the Chief Justice of the High Court not to assign any judicial work to Justice Verma for the time being.
