NEW DELHI: The judges committee inquiring into the 'cash in kothi' case involving Justice Yashwant Varma spotted an "unidentified person" in a check shirt near the doused and half-burnt sacks of currency in the early hours of March 15 in one of the photos taken by first responders.
This raises suspicion whether this man was responsible for removing the cash pile between 1am and 7am of said day in collaboration with Justice Varma's private secretary Rajinder Singh Karki and staffers Mohd Rahil, Babloo and Hanuman.
The panel in its report said the photo "shows a fireman standing at the entrance of the store with a torch and also making video, the debris as such at that point of time is stored at the back side of the store and there is also an unidentified man on the right side..."
The committee comprising Punjab & Haryana chief justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal Pradesh CJ G S Sandhawalia and Karnataka HC's Justice Anu Sivaraman said at the time of the fire incident at the storeroom, Justice Varma's daughter, ailing mother (who was not questioned by the panel), Karki and the 'trusted' servants were present at the 30, Tughlaq Crescent bungalow.
As per the panel, all of them attempted to give misleading statements despite unimpeachable evidence about the presence of huge amounts of illegal cash in the judge's residence and continued to make bald denials when confronted with forensic laboratory authenticated electronic evidence and videos. Justice Varma's daughter was examined as Witness-54 as she was the sole family member (apart from Justice Varma's mother) present at home during the fire incident. Karki, Justice Varma's daughter and the three domestic staff denied seeing any burnt cash inside the storeroom, a stand the panel said is "not liable to be accepted without a pinch of salt".
Giving details of how the domestic staff were recruited by Justice Varma and their long association with him, the panel surmised that it was not surprising to find them denying everything and contradicting themselves when confronted with evidence.
The panel gave particular attention to Justice Varma's daughter's conduct during the fire incident on March 14 night and her statements during deposition. When she was shown the video of the burnt cash in the storeroom, "there was a lame explanation by her that the said room could be any other room at a different location", the panel said.
It said she even refused to identify the voice of Karki clearly audible in the video. "This goes to show that she is hiding the said fact since Karki himself had admitted that it is his voice," it said. Interestingly, Karki had told the panel that he came to know about the incident 6-7 days after the incident.
This raises suspicion whether this man was responsible for removing the cash pile between 1am and 7am of said day in collaboration with Justice Varma's private secretary Rajinder Singh Karki and staffers Mohd Rahil, Babloo and Hanuman.
The panel in its report said the photo "shows a fireman standing at the entrance of the store with a torch and also making video, the debris as such at that point of time is stored at the back side of the store and there is also an unidentified man on the right side..."
The committee comprising Punjab & Haryana chief justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal Pradesh CJ G S Sandhawalia and Karnataka HC's Justice Anu Sivaraman said at the time of the fire incident at the storeroom, Justice Varma's daughter, ailing mother (who was not questioned by the panel), Karki and the 'trusted' servants were present at the 30, Tughlaq Crescent bungalow.
As per the panel, all of them attempted to give misleading statements despite unimpeachable evidence about the presence of huge amounts of illegal cash in the judge's residence and continued to make bald denials when confronted with forensic laboratory authenticated electronic evidence and videos. Justice Varma's daughter was examined as Witness-54 as she was the sole family member (apart from Justice Varma's mother) present at home during the fire incident. Karki, Justice Varma's daughter and the three domestic staff denied seeing any burnt cash inside the storeroom, a stand the panel said is "not liable to be accepted without a pinch of salt".
Giving details of how the domestic staff were recruited by Justice Varma and their long association with him, the panel surmised that it was not surprising to find them denying everything and contradicting themselves when confronted with evidence.
The panel gave particular attention to Justice Varma's daughter's conduct during the fire incident on March 14 night and her statements during deposition. When she was shown the video of the burnt cash in the storeroom, "there was a lame explanation by her that the said room could be any other room at a different location", the panel said.
It said she even refused to identify the voice of Karki clearly audible in the video. "This goes to show that she is hiding the said fact since Karki himself had admitted that it is his voice," it said. Interestingly, Karki had told the panel that he came to know about the incident 6-7 days after the incident.
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