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Watch a deep analysis with senior journalist Manoj Tibrewal Aakash on the cash scandal against Justice Yashwant Verma
Supreme Court secret report leaked on Justice Verma
New Delhi: The Supreme Court in-house investigation report, which created a stir in the country's judiciary and confirms serious misconduct against Justice Yashwant Verma in the cash scandal, suddenly leaked to the media and went viral.
The question is how did this report get leaked... did someone leak it as part of a well-planned strategy. This 64-page report was kept extremely confidential. It was sent only to the Chief Justice, the Prime Minister and the President. Some parts of it were leaked in the last week of May.
But Thursday early morning, another sensation gripped the Nation when the PDF format of the report... spread rapidly on Telegram, WhatsApp and social media. Some believe that this leak could be a part of a political strategy to create public opinion about the impeachment motion before the Monsoon Session of Parliament, while some sources believe that it was a step taken under the pressure of transparency and accountability from within the judiciary.
The session of Parliament is starting from 21 July. Today this report created a buzz among bar councils, senior lawyers, bureaucrats, politicians and journalists. However, there has been no official response from the Supreme Court on the leak.
Senior journalist Manoj Tibrewal Aakash on his show 'The MTA Speaks', has done a deep analysis on this cash scandal. Let's know the full details...
This cash scandal has raised deep questions on the dignity of our justice system. The justices who give prestige to justice in the courts of the country, this time themselves are standing in the dock, where their character, morality and judicial integrity are under question. This is a case which has also raised questions on the purity of the goddess of justice. The matter starts on the night of 14 March 2025 - Justice Verma's government bungalow at 30, Tughlaq Crescent suddenly catches fire. The fire brigade team reaches the spot and preparations are made to extinguish the fire. Meanwhile, half-burnt five hundred rupee notes are found in the corner of the room.
The entire system is shaken on hearing the first news of this incident. The fire brigade immediately sends information about this incident to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. On the same day, Justice Verma's proceedings are immediately stopped and he does not see the highest level of resentment from the Delhi High Court--he is even transferred to the Allahabad High Court. Thereafter, on March 22, a three-member in-house inquiry panel is formed on the instructions of the then Chief Justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna. The panel comprises: Chief Justice Sheel Nagu of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, and Justice Anu Sivaraman of the Karnataka High Court.
The panel spent about a week conducting ground investigations, questioning witnesses, and visiting the place where the notes were found--statements of total 55 witnesses were recorded.
The report found that the store room in which the pile of semi-burnt notes was found was under the control of the family. That is, this store room was not opened by anyone else, but the place was under the supervision of Justice Verma.
The report clearly stated that this is a “serious judicial misconduct”, which is a tampering with the dignity of the post of judge. The report also said that immediately after the fire—on the morning of March 15—the store room was “inspected for semi-burnt notes”, but no police report or FIR was filed. Which raised questions. The report also found that CCTV cameras were not working around that store room at that time, and there were also reports of removal of evidence.
An 11-second video was recorded, in which heavy notes were revealed, and a voice kept saying: “Note hi note hain…” Seeing all this, the investigation team concluded: “There is a clear malpractice in the functioning of Justice Verma, in which There is clear evidence—ground, electronic, direct—and there is sufficient substance in the allegations.”
Not only this, the store room was found to be in the “active or covert control” of the judge and his family. An official statement in the report read: “This committee is of the firm opinion that Judge Verma and his family had control of the store room and it was they who removed the notes from there at night. Based on these findings, the three-member committee recommended “initiation of impeachment proceedings”. Then CJI Sanjiv Khanna wrote a letter to the President and the Prime Minister, representing this serious misconduct and recommending the removal of the judge.
Now, ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, the central government is preparing for the impeachment proceedings. Lobbying is being done for majority in both the houses of Parliament so that the impeachment motion can be brought. It is expected that the motion could be introduced in the monsoon session (July 21 – August 12), which runs from July to August.
Congress MPs have urged Justice Verma to resign before the impeachment motion drags on, so that his accumulated retirement benefits can be protected. Senior lawyer and politician Kapil Sibal, while talking about the judge's reputation, said that he was "an outstanding judge".
The Congress, meanwhile, questioned the use of the Supreme Court's in-house report as the official basis for impeachment - saying the process under the Constitution and the Judges Inquiry Act should be completed, and decisions should not be taken only through internal investigations by the Supreme Court.
Amid all this, the Allahabad High Court Bar Association called it a victory for the common man, saying it will bring accountability in the justice system. The question has been raised that if the judges themselves are not held accountable, then when will the reputation of justice improve?
Here is a brief description of impeachment process. First, when the impeachment proposal is introduced in Parliament - the consent of 50 Rajya Sabha or 100 Lok Sabha MPs is required - after which a new sub-commission will be formed under the Judges (Inquiry) Act of 1958. This committee will investigate again, which will include a Supreme Court judge, a prominent judge, and an eminent person. It will happen.
If the committee finds him guilty, and if the proposal is passed in both the houses with a two-third majority, then the President will dismiss Justice Verma from the post. This is the highest process of removing judges in India: Earlier also such impeachment process was implemented in the Parliament. Then in 1973 against Soumitra Sen and in 2018 against former CJI Deepak Mishra, but both these proposals could not be passed. There is no dearth of people speaking in support of Justice Verma. He has been identified as a reputed judge in the legal fraternity.
Regarding this cash scandal, Justice Verma has said in his clarification that "I and my family were unaware of these allegations. I am speaking the truth that we did not know that these notes were in the store room."
This answer did not pass the test of transparency and ethics as the panel found: the store room was sealed, it was in the premises of the house, and only family and security personnel could enter it.
There are now only two options—Justice Verma can resign on his own, thereby retaining all his post-retirement benefits. If he does not do so and fights the impeachment motion and it is passed, he could lose both his post and pension.
But the biggest challenge remains the collective trust in the justice system. The whole case has now triggered a new public discourse—on accountability of judges, the need for ethical conduct, and the reality of their property scams.
All said and done, this is a watershed—perhaps the first time a high court judge has been impeached through Parliament. And the question is whether the reputation of justice—of candour, ethics, accountability—will survive.
