ON SATURDAY, the Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna constituted an in-house committee consisting of Justices Sheel Nagu, G.S. Sandhawalia and Anu Sivaram, Chief Justices of the Punjab & Haryana and Himachal Pradesh High Courts, and judge at the Karnataka High Court respectively. The committee will conduct an inquiry into the allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma, a sitting Judge of the Delhi High Court, in whose residence, sacks of burning cash were reportedly discovered.
CJI Khanna also decided to make public the report of the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court D.K. Upadhyaya which was submitted to the former. The Supreme Court also made public the response provided by Justice Varma to the allegations of piles of cash having been found at a storehouse situated within the premises of the official bungalow allotted to Justice Varma.
CJI Khanna has also advised Chief Justice Upadhyaya to not assign judicial work to Justice Varma in the meantime.
What the released documents reveal
In his letter addressed to Chief Justice Upadhyaya on March 22, Justice Varma has unequivocally stated that no cash was ever placed in the storeroom either by him or any of his family members and strongly denounced the suggestion that the alleged cash belonged to him.
“The very idea or suggestion that this cash was kept or stored by us is totally preposterous,” he wrote, “The suggestion that one would store cash in an open, freely accessible and commonly used storeroom near the staff quarters or in an outhouse verges on the incredible and incredulous. It is a room which is completely disassociated from my living areas and a boundary wall demarcates my living area from that outhouse. I only wish that the media had conducted some enquiry before I came to be indicted and defamed in the press.”
Responding to Chief Justice Upadhyay’s question posed to him asking how he accounted “for the presence of money/cash in the room located in [his’ bungalow”, Justice Varma wrote that he was never aware of any money or cash lying in the outhouse storeroom.
“Neither I nor any of my family members had any knowledge of cash nor does it have any bearing or relation with him or my family,” he wrote, “No such cash or currency was shown to my family members or staff who were present on that fateful night.”
He also asserted that he returned to Delhi only on the evening of March 15, 2025. Therefore, the question of its alleged removal of remains of the burnt cash was not known to him.
“In any event none of my staff removed any article, currency or cash in any form”, he said.
Now that the documents are available albeit with some redaction, it is important to make sense of the chronology of developments.
Ten Questions that remain unanswered
Who brought and kept the currency notes, if any, in the storehouse and when?
Most importantly perhaps, who did the currency notes belong to?
Why did the Delhi police not register an FIR under Section 326(f) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which lays out the punishment for arson, to find out whether the fire was caused by arson or by accidents such as a ‘short-circuit’?
Why did the Delhi police not cordon off the scene of crime?
Who removed the debris/burnt currency notes (if any) in the morning of March 15, 2025?
Why were the currency notes, if any, found in the storehouse not shown to the family members of Justice Varma as has been stated by him?
Where are the remains of the burnt currency notes, which are visible in the video shared by the Commissioner of Police, Delhi with Chief Justice Upadhyaya? Were they seized? If not, why not?
Who saw the burnt currency notes? Have the remains been disposed of? If so, why? And by who? Who recorded the video?
Where are the CCTV footages of entry and exit to the bungalow premises and the storehouse of Justice Varma?
Does in-house inquiry have the power to take evidence on oath and subject the witnesses to cross-examination? If not, how will the inquiry lead towards a definitive conclusion?
A timeline of key developments
March 14, 2025:
A fire broke-out at about 11:30 pm in a storehouse near the office at 30, Tughlak Crescent, New Delhi, which is allotted to Justice Varma.
A PCR call was made at 11:43 pm by the Private Secretary to Justice Varma. No separate call was made to the fire department. Justice Varma was in Bhopal at the time. Justice Varma’s daughter and his aged mother were at the residence.
March 15, 2025:
A report was shared by the Commissioner of Police, Delhi, to the Chief Justice Upadhyaya on his WhatsApp.
This report stated that the cause of the fire prima facie was short circuit. The report also stated that four to five sacks containing remains of Indian currency were also found in the storehouse.
That same day, the Commissioner of Police also made a telephonic call to Chief Justice Upadhyaya informing him about the incident of fire. Chief Justice Upadhyaya was also not in town that day. He was in Lucknow.
Later that same day in the evening, Chief Justice Upadhyaya spoke to the Chief Justice of India. CJI Khanna asked Chief Justice Upadhyaya to find out the source from whom the PCR call was made.
Meanwhile, in the evening that day, Justice Varma returned to Delhi.
That same day, after Justice Varma had arrived the Registrar-cum-Secretary to Chief Justice Upadhyaya visited the place where fire had broken out. Justice Varma was also with him.
March 16, 2025:
The Registrar-cum-Secretary to Chief Justice Upadhyaya submitted his inspection report to Chief Justice Upadhyaya.
The report states: “It was informed to me by the Private Secretary that the room was being used as a store room to keep useless articles of the household and remained accessible to all as it was not kept locked. On reaching there, I found out that it was complete dark inside the room and the walls had developed cracks. We all took out our mobile phones and switched on the torch to have a look inside the room. We saw all the walls were blacked out due to fire and some material was hanging from the roof and half burnt articles were lying there and burnt articles/debris were lying on the floor. After spending 8-10 minutes in the room, we all came out”.
That day, the Commissioner of Police informed Chief Justice Upadhyaya that the PCR call was made by the Personal Secretary to Justice Varma and that he was informed about the fire by one of the servants placed at the residence of Justice Varma. It was also informed to Chief Justice Upadhyaya that the fire service was not informed separately, though once PCR was contacted the information relating to fire was automatically sent to the Delhi Fire Service.
The Commissioner of Police also informed that the storeroom is adjacent to the Guard Room where Central Reserve Police Force (Battalion 70F) is posted and that the storeroom used to be kept locked.
Further it was informed to Chief Justice Upadhyaya that as per the Security Guard posted at the residence of Justice Varma, some debris and half burnt articles were removed in the morning of 15.3.2025.
That day Chief Justice Upadhyaya reached Delhi in the evening and met CJI Khanna.
March 17, 2025:
Chief Justice Upadhyaya met Justice Varma in the morning at around 8.30 am at Delhi High Court Guest House where Chief Justice Upadhyaya is residing presently. Justice Varma responded by saying that in the room where the fire had broken out, only unusable household articles like furniture and mattresses were kept. He also said that the room was accessible to the servants, the gardeners and sometimes even to the CPWD personnel.
He also informed Chief Justice Upadhyaya that at the time of the incident, he was in Bhopal and got the information from his daughter. Justice Varma further told Justice Upadhyaya that at the moment, black burnt material (soot) was lying in the room.
This is when Chief Justice Upadhyaya showed Justice Varma the photographs and the video on his WhatsApp which were shared with him by the Commissioner of Police. Justice Varma then expressed apprehension about a conspiracy against him.
March 20, 2025:
Chief Justice Upadhyaya sent the photographs, the video and two messages to CJI Khanna in the morning.
It is pertinent that in the evening on this very same day the Collegium decided to transfer Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court. Chief Justice Upadhyaya also received a communication from CJI Khanna intimating the proposal to repatriate Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court to which Chief Justice Upadhyaya responded, on the very same day, stating that he agreed to the proposed transfer of Justice Varma since it was in the “interest of better administration of justice.”
March 21, 2025:
In the morning, the Times of India broke the story.
That day, Chief Justice Upadhyaya sent a letter to CJI Khanna. In his letter, besides narrating the above facts, he also mentioned: “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 personnels, if any. Accordingly, I am of the prima faice opinion that the entire matter warrants a deeper probe.” (emphasis supplied)
That same day, CJI Khanna wrote back to Chief Justice Upadhyaya. In his letter, CJI Khanna asked Chief Justice Upadhyaya to ask Justice Varma to provide the following information:
How does Justice Varma account for the presence of money/cash in the room located in his premises?
Explain the source of money/cash which was found in the said room.
Who is the person who had removed the burnt money/cash from the room in the morning of March 15, 2025? (emphasis supplied)
CJI Khanna also asked Chief Justice Upadhyaya to ascertain the details of the official staff of the High Court Registry, the personal security officers and the security guards who have been posted at Justice Varma’s residence during the last six months. CJI Khanna also asked to request for the letter to be sent to the Mobile Service Provider(s) for providing call record details of the official or other mobile phone number(s) of Justice Varma for the last six months.
CJI Khanna also asked Chief Justice Upadhyaya to tell Justice Varma to not dispose of his mobile phone(s) or delete or modify any conversation, messages or data from his mobile phone(s). He accordingly sought a report from Chief Justice Upadhyaya along with the response of Justice Varma.
Later that day, Chief Justice Upadhyaya wrote to Justice Varma asking for the information desired by CJI Khanna from Justice Varma. Justice Varma was asked to respond in writing by 12 PM the next day, March 22.
