It will be a tragedy if 'cash at home' claim turns out to be false: Harish Salve

New Delhi : Former Solicitor General of India and senior advocate Harish Salve on Friday said it would be a tragedy if the episode of the alleged recovery of cash from a Delhi High Court judge’s home turns out to be false.

“What a tragedy. If this allegation is false, then a very fine judge’s image is immediately tarnished,” said Salve, calling Justice Yashwant Varma, who is at the centre of the ‘cash at home’ controversy, a professional whom he adores.

“Justice Varma is one of the senior-most judges. The judge I have always admired. And I was devastated when I read this report,” he said during an interview with IANS.

Salve pointed out that the Delhi fire chief Atul Garg has said there was no recovery of cash by firemen from the judge's bungalow after a fire that was reported on the premises on March 14. He called it an "odd and murky" situation.

Calling Justice Varma a true professional, Salve said, “The only way forward now is that his transfer should be suspended and an inquiry ordered.”

Asked if Justice Varma should be allowed to hold court, pending inquiry, he said, “I am sure he will take a few days off and after that Supreme Court should order an inquiry into the fact if any money was recovered from his house.”

He suggested a three-member panel inquiry panel may include a judge and two other members.

Calling it the ugliest allegation against the judiciary that he has come across during his four and a half decades in the legal profession, Salve said, “I don't think I've ever heard such an ugly story of cash being recovered from a high court judge's house.”

“Let me tell you, Justice Varma is one of the senior-most judges. The judge I've admired always. And I was devastated when I read this news. So this if it shakes my faith in the judiciary, it surely shakes the common man's faith in the judiciary,” he said.