Cash found from HC judge's residence raises serious concerns: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday said the reported incident of cash found from the residence of a high court judge here has raised serious concerns and urged the Supreme Court to take strong measures to uphold people's trust in the judiciary.

The opposition party also said the incident should not give a handle to the executive to control judicial appointments in higher courts.

Congress general secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala said the incident has shocked the nation, including the legal fraternity.

Venugopal said the country is looking towards the Supreme Court for strong measures, while Surjewala said the top court must find answers on judicial accountability.

"The reported incident of mounds of cash recovered from a High Court judge's residence has shocked the nation. The judiciary is the last bastion of justice -- when trust erodes here, where do citizens turn?" Venugopal asked in a post on X.

He said the reports of a cover up and a complete denial of the money found from the judge's residence are even more unnerving.

"Shouldn't this be a moment for serious introspection and complete transparency towards the public?" the Congress general secretary, organisation, asked.

He said the nation is looking towards the apex court for strong measures to dispel all doubts about the incident.

Surjewala, in a post on X, said the alleged discovery of cash from the residence of the senior Delhi High Court judge "has caused tremors of 9/10 on the Richter Scale of Judicial Accountability in the judiciary, legal fraternity and the society".

He said the Supreme Court should set up an accountable and transparent "clean-the-house mechanism".

"These are the exact moments in history, when theorists of executive control over judiciary get a handle to push through even more dangerous solutions, cloaked as reforms," he claimed.

"The Modi government and its cheerleaders are gloating over the fact that this gives them a justified handle to control judicial appointments to High Courts and the Supreme Court. May I warn that this would be like shooting the patient dead for curing the disease," Surjewala said.

"Let J Yashwant Varma's case be not used as a tool to kill the remaining vestiges of judicial independence," he said.

Raising questions over the incident, the Congress general secretary, in-charge for Karnataka, said the apex court must find answers and solutions "before it's too late".

Delhi High Court's Chief Justice D K Upadhyay is stated to have submitted a report to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna in connection with the alleged discovery of cash from Justice Varma's official residence here.

The purported discovery of a huge stash of cash happened following a fire at Justice Varma's Lutyens Delhi residence at around 11:35 pm on the night of Holi on March 14, prompting the Delhi fire department personnel to rush to the spot and douse it.