Bundles Of Cash Found; No Plausible Explanation Has Been Offered: Supreme Court In-House Inquiry Report On Justice Yashwant Varma

The Committee report records, “…the fire personnel and the Delhi Police officials had reached the spot on receiving a request for help from the residents of the house and the Private Secretary of the sitting Judge, who himself was not in station at the relevant point of time.”

The Committee further states, “Apparently, in the process of dousing the fire, the said fire personnel and Delhi police officials took photographs and videos of the debris in the store room in question in which the fire had broken out and on account of the fact that the currency of high denomination had got affected and burnt, the same were shared with their higher officials.”

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Sanjay Arora, who appeared before the Committee as Witness No. 53, informed the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court on March 15, 2025, that a report had been sent to the Union Home Minister, wherein there was reference that there were four or five half burnt sacks of Indian currency at the spot.

Still photographs and a video were also shared with the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, who directed Registrar-cum-Secretary Naresh Chand Garg to inspect the site. Justice Varma, who was away in Madhya Pradesh, returned to Delhi by 5.00 P.M. on March 15, 2025.

Garg’s inspection took place at around 9:10 P.M. the same evening, in the presence of Justice Varma and his Private Secretary, Rajinder Singh Karki (Witness No. 41). In his inspection report dated March 15, 2025. Garg wrote, “Store room was adjacent to the office and that on inspection, it was completely dark and walls had developed cracks and with the help of mobile phone torches had taken a look inside the room which had got blackened due to fire and some half-burnt articles were hanging and other half burnt articles were lying here and there on the floor.”

Though Garg’s report was silent on the presence of currency, the Commissioner of Police had informed the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court that the debris consisting of half-burnt articles had been removed from the room in the morning of March 15, 2025.

The Committee records that the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court formed a “prima facie conclusion” that the matter warranted a deeper probe. He stated in his communication dated March 21, 2025, “The inquiry got conducted by him did not reveal the possibility of entry or access to the room by any person other than those residing in the bungalow.”

That same day, the Times of India (Delhi Edition) published a report titled “A fire in the house of High Court Judge had led to the recovery of cash pile.”

On March 21, 2025, the Chief Justice of India sought a written explanation from Justice Varma, including the following specific queries:

(i) How does he account for the presence of money/cash in the room located in the premises?

(ii) Explain the source of money/cash which was found in the said room;

(iii) Who is the person who had removed the burnt money/cash from the room in the morning of March 15, 2025?

Justice Varma submitted his reply dated March 22, 2025 in which he stated, “The store room was utilized by all and sundry and was being used to store articles or unused furniture, bottles, crockery, mattresses, used carpets, old speakers garden implements as well as CPWD material and the room was unlocked and accessible from, both from front gate, as well as the back gate of the staff quarters.”

He added, “It was his specific case that the store room was disconnected from the main residence and was not a room in his house.” He further stated, “…he was not present in Delhi and only his daughter and aged mother were at home and the fire service was alerted by his daughter and his Private Secretary.”

Justice Varma maintained, “When the fire was doused, they had gone back to the scene of the incident and saw no cash or currency at the site.” He claimed, “…there was no cash placed by him or any of his family members and denied that it had anything to do with him.”

In his oral explanation earlier on March 17, 2025, before the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice Varma had called the claims a conspiracy, after being shown the photographs and videos shared by the Commissioner of Police via WhatsApp.

The Committee, however, reviewed multiple statements from first responders, including fire and police officials, and found them consistent. While the report does not list each witness statement verbatim, it affirms reliance on such material and contemporaneous documentation, including images and communications exchanged at the time.

The Committee concluded, “The inquiry has revealed the fact that bundles of high denomination Indian currency notes, some of which were partially or fully burnt, were present at the site of the fire on the night of 14.03.2025 and were witnessed and documented by uniformed personnel during fire-fighting operations. The Committee does not find the explanation provided by Hon’ble Justice Varma to be satisfactory or supported by any rebuttal evidence, either oral or documentary…In view of the above, the Committee is of the unanimous view that the matter be placed before the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India for communication to the President and the Prime Minister of India for such further action as may be deemed appropriate under the Constitution.”

Following these findings, and after Justice Varma gave his consent to the transfer on March 20, 2025, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended his repatriation to the Allahabad High Court. He is currently posted there without judicial responsibilities.

Under the in-house procedure, where a judge does not resign following adverse findings, the matter is submitted to the executive for possible initiation of proceedings under Article 124(4) of the Constitution.