'4 to 5 stacks of burnt currency notes found at Justice Varma’s residence'

New Delhi: In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court late on Saturday uploaded on its website the entire in-house inquiry report, including photos and videos, into alleged discovery of a huge stash of cash at the residence of Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma.

According to the report, Justice Varma has unequivocally stated that no cash was ever placed in a storeroom of the house “either by me or any of my family members and strongly denounce the suggestion that the alleged cash belonged to us”.

“The very idea or suggestion that this cash was kept or stored by us is totally preposterous,” he said.

The inquiry report submitted by Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya also contained material with regard to official communication which say four to five semi-burnt stacks of Indian currency were found.

The 25-page inquiry report also contained the videos and photographs of the fire fighting operation at Justice Varma’s residence on Holi night during which the cash was discovered.

“On examining the incident reported, the material available and the response of Justice Yashwant Varma, what I find is that the Commissioner of Police in his report dated 16.3.2025 has reported that as per the guard posted at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma, the debris and other partially burnt articles were removed from the room where the fire had broken out in the morning of 15.3.2025.

“The enquiry conducted by me, prima facie, does not reveal possibility of entry or access to the room by any person other than those residing in the bungalow, the servants, the gardeners and CPWD personnel, if any.

“Accordingly, I am of the prima facie opinion that the entire matter warrants a deeper probe,” Justice Upadhyaya said in his report dated March 21, but made public Saturday night.

Earlier in the day, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna constituted a three-member committee to conduct an in-house inquiry.

CJI Khanna ordered the inquiry after getting a report from Chief Justice of Delhi High Court D K Upadhyay.

The inquiry committee consists of Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Justice G S Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, and Anu Sivaraman, Judge of the High Court of Karnataka.

“The Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi for the time being has been asked not to assign any judicial work to Justice Yashwant Varma.

“The Report submitted by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi, response of Justice Yashwant Varma and other documents are being uploaded on the Supreme Court website,” a statement from the top court said. The purported discovery of a huge stash of cash happened after a fire broke out at Justice Varma’s Lutyens’ Delhi residence at around 11:35 pm on the night of Holi on March 14, prompting the fire department personnel to rush to the spot and douse the flames.

Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg, however, denied claims of the cash discovery by the firefighters.

In a statement on Friday, the Supreme Court said the Delhi High Court chief justice had initiated an in-house inquiry against Justice Varma and separately, there was a proposal to transfer the judge to the Allahabad High Court.

“There is misinformation and rumours are being spread with regard to the incident at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma,” the statement said.

Upon receiving the information, the apex court said Justice Upadhyaya “commenced the in-house enquiry procedure, collecting evidence and information”.

Justice Upadhyaya was stated to have commenced the enquiry prior to a meeting of the apex court collegium on March 20.

The Supreme Court had said the proposal for transferring Justice Varma was examined by the apex court collegium comprising the CJI and the four seniormost judges on March 20 and thereafter, letters were shot off to the consultee judges of the top court and the chief justices of the high courts concerned, besides Justice Varma. “Responses received will be examined and, thereupon, the collegium will pass a resolution,” the court said.