"Need To Get Rid Of...": Mukul Rohatgi On Impeachment Amid Judge Cash Row

Former Attorney General of India and senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi has called for a forensic investigation into the cash-at-home scam and said there is a need to streamline the system of disciplinary action against judges instead of the current rule of impeachment. The only constitutional action against judges, impeachment, is so complicated that in the last 75 years, no judge has been impeached, despite three or four attempts, he told NDTV in an exclusive interview. 

Calling the incident a "huge dent in the heart of judicial dispensation system," he said if the people see "this kind of thing and if the judge is guilty, action should be taken at the earliest". 

"There must be a better system for disciplinary action," Mr Rohatgi said. "Today, the only action under constitution is impeachment. Impeachment is so laborious, complex and difficult that no impeachment has taken place in 75 years," he said, while discussing the case of Justice Yashwant Varma, the sitting judge of the Delhi High Court, from whose house a stack of partially burnt currency notes were recovered on March 14, the night of Holi. 

The alleged recovery was after the fire department was called in to douse a fire at the Delhi bungalow of the judge.   

Along with it, Mr Rohatgi also questioned the Supreme Court's decision to order an internal investigation into the matter. 

There is a need for a police investigation, forensic investigation. large number of VCDs, CCTV footage. This evidence should be collated to get at the bottom of the issue, he added. 

The senior advocate also questioned the current system of selection of judges through a collegium.

"The old debate on the manner of appointment of judges and the manner of disciplinary proceedings against judges has to be relooked at," he said. 

Calling the collegium is "absolutely unsatisfactory and opaque", he said the Supreme Court has interpreted the constitution "somewhat selectively".

"The attempt to bring in sunlight 10 years ago was turned down by the court. If the NJC (National Judicial Commission) was bad, we can have some via media, some sunlight, some outsiders, who have a committee which should recommend judges and there should not be only "judges selecting judges," he added.  

Justice Varma was moved to the Delhi High Court from the Allahabad High Court in 2021. Today, the Supreme Court said it has recommended his transfer back to the parent court - a decision that has also been taken apart by critics. The top court's statement that the transfer has nothing to do with the discovery of the burnt currency has also been questioned.

"I never understood this statement (of the Supreme Court) that this transfer has nothing to do with the cash scam. According to me, it is because of the cash scam that he is proposed to be transferred," Mr Rohatgi said. "We should come to the bottom of the issue -- whether the judge is delinquent, is he guilty of moral turpitude or he is not and his reputation is being blackened," he added.  

Former Solicitor General Harish Salve said any transfer should be put on hold till the matter is investigated.  "Because if he (Justice Varma) was being transferred not because of this but because of other administrative reasons, the two issues have got joined at the hip. If the allegations against him are false, it is very unfair to him to transfer him and if they are true, then a transfer is too little," he said.