Last night, the Supreme Court uploaded an in-house inquiry report into the alleged discovery of massive cash at the residence of Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma on its website. The inquiry report, submitted by Delhi High Court Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya, contained information about official communications stating that four to five semi-burnt stacks of Indian currency were found.
The 25-page inquiry report also included videos and photographs of the firefighting operation at Justice Varma’s residence on the night of Holi, March 14 during which the cash was recovered. As recommended in the report, Chief Justice of India Justice Sanjiv Khanna has constituted a three-member in-house inquiry committee to probe the allegations against Justice Varma. CJI Khanna has also directed the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court not to assign any judicial work to Justice Varma.
In his response, Justice Varma stated that no cash was ever placed in the storeroom either by him or any of his family members. He said the allegations of cash discovery at his residence appeared to be a conspiracy to frame and malign him.
Media reports earlier stated that a fire at the judge’s residence accidentally led to the discovery of unaccounted cash. Following this, the Supreme Court Collegium decided to repatriate Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court, his parent High Court.
However, during a full court meeting of Supreme Court judges on Friday, it was agreed that a transfer alone would not be enough and that further action was needed. The court unanimously approved an in-house inquiry, with the transfer as the first step. While the transfer is in progress, it is still awaiting government approval.
