Indian judiciary at the crossroads – Reform or perish
“Fire at Delhi HC judge’s house leads to recovery of cash pile,” – reported Times of India, Mumbai edition dated March 21, 2025 in its headlines. A fire broke out in Delhi high court judge Justice Yashwant Varma’s residential bungalow. When the fire broke out, Justice Varma was not in town and his family members called the fire brigade and the police. After the fire was doused, a huge amount of cash was found inside a room (some reports claimed no less than 50 crores in sacks), which could in all probability be unaccounted ill-gotten money. It appears that initially a desperate attempt was made to conceal the cash slash. But the news reached the higher ups in the government, who in turn, informed the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Sanjiv Khanna about the hoarded pile of cash. The CJI called for a collegium meeting and the collegium unanimously decided to transfer Justice Varma to his parent HC, Allahabad HC. ...