‘Whose Money Is This? Asks VP Dhankhar Amid Justice Varma’s Impeachment Talks

Last Updated:July 07, 2025, 14:46 IST

VP Jagdeep Dhankha stressed the need for an FIR in the case involve Justice Varma and expressed concerns over judges' post-retirement roles

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar (Image: PTI/File)

As Parliament mulls impeaching Justice Yashwant Varma, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday said that every crime must be investigated and asked about the source of the money allegedly recovered from the Supreme Court judge’s residence in New Delhi.

Interacting with the students and faculty members at the National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) today, the Vice President said there has been no FIR in the case and hoped that it would be registered for the police to investigate the matter.

“If the money is so huge in volume, we have to find out: Is it tainted money? What is the source of this money? How was it stocked in the official residence of a judge? Whom did it belong to? Several penal provisions are violated in the process. I do hope an FIR will be registered. We must go to the root of the matter because, for democracy, it matters that our judiciary, in whom the faith is unshakable — its very foundations have been shaken," he said.

Dhankhar said the judiciary in India commands immense trust and immense respect from the people, but if people’s faith is eroded, the country will be faced with a grim situation.

Expressing his concern over post-retirement assignments for judges, he emphasised, “Certain constitutional authorities are not permitted to hold assignments after their office — like a Public Service Commission member cannot take any assignment under the government. The CAG can’t take that assignment. The Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners can’t take that assignment because they must be free, not subjected to allurements and temptations. This was not the case for judges. Why? Because judges were expected to be totally away from it. And now we have post-retirement posts for judges. Am I right? And not all can be accommodated — only some can be accommodated. So when you can’t accommodate all, and you accommodate some, there is pick and choose. When there is pick and choose, there is patronage. It is seriously impairing our judiciary."

Saurabh Verma

Saurabh Verma covers general, national and international day-to-day news for News18.com as a Senior Sub-editor. He keenly observes politics. You can follow him on Twitter --twitter.com/saurabhkverma19

Saurabh Verma covers general, national and international day-to-day news for News18.com as a Senior Sub-editor. He keenly observes politics. You can follow him on Twitter --twitter.com/saurabhkverma19

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