The Supreme Court on Saturday night released a report, along with three images and a video, about the alleged discovery of unaccounted cash at the official residence of Delhi High Court Judge Yashwant Varma. This revelation followed an internal investigation ordered by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna. Meanwhile, the controversy prompted Delhi High Court Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya to stop assigning judicial work to Justice Varma.
Firefighters Reportedly Find Burnt Cash
The report, now available on the Supreme Court’s website, includes visuals that allegedly show semi-burnt currency inside the storeroom of Justice Varma’s government-allocated residence. According to officials, firefighters discovered the burnt cash on March 14, the night of Holi, while extinguishing a fire. Subsequently, Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora shared these visuals with Justice Upadhyaya.
Justice Varma Strongly Denies Allegations
Justice Varma firmly denied any connection to the alleged cash, calling the incident a deliberate attempt to damage his reputation. “I was shocked to see the video as it depicted something that was not present at the site when I last saw it. This appears to be a deliberate conspiracy to malign me,” he stated, questioning the authenticity of the evidence.He explained in a response to Justice Upadhyaya that the fire broke out in a storeroom near the staff quarters, not inside his main residence. He further clarified that the storeroom served as a common storage area for household items such as old furniture, crockery, and garden tools. Since it remained unlocked, multiple people had access to it.
Justice Varma Was Away During the Incident
At the time of the fire, Justice Varma and his wife were in Madhya Pradesh. Meanwhile, only his daughter and elderly mother were at home. When the fire broke out, his daughter and private secretary immediately alerted the fire department. The next day, he returned to Delhi on an IndiGo flight from Bhopal. He emphasized that neither his family members nor his staff saw any cash at the scene during the firefighting operation.
Justice Varma Challenges Claims of Cash Recovery
Justice Yashwant Varma categorically denied storing cash in the storeroom. He stressed that all his financial transactions occur through proper banking channels, including UPI and card payments.Additionally, he pointed out that no authorities officially seized the alleged cash. “There was no mention of cash being recovered or seized at the time the site was handed back to us,” he asserted. Furthermore, he questioned why officials never presented the sacks of burnt cash that were reportedly found. “We were not shown any such sacks or remnants of currency. My staff confirmed that only debris and salvageable items were cleared from the room. If such an amount of cash was truly recovered, why was it never presented to us at the time?”In conclusion, Justice Varma reiterated that the storeroom was a shared space, entirely separate from his living quarters. He dismissed the allegations as baseless and illogical.
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