Delhi Fire chief says 'no cash found' at Justice Varma's residence, SC initiates in-house probe

Delhi: In a major twist in the alleged recovery of cash from the residence of Delhi High Court judge, Yashwant Varma, Chief of Delhi Fire Service Atul Garg has come up with a clarification denying the reports on cash recovery by firefighters. 

In response to an inquiry from IANS, Garg refuted the claim, stating that he never told any media outlet that firefighters had reported no cash found at the scene. When asked why his name was being quoted in the reports, Garg replied, "I don't know why," adding that he had already sent a clarification to the media outlets carrying the statement.

According to a fire department report obtained by IANS, the fire was limited to domestic and stationery articles in a storeroom, and no casualties were involved.

Amid this, chief justice initiated an in-house inquiry against him and the Supreme Court clarified the move to transfer him was not linked to the probe.

After reports emerged that Justice Varma, 56, was being repatriated to Allahabad High Court in the wake of the alleged cash discovery, the Supreme Court came out with a clarification that the proposal to transfer him was "independent and separate from the in-house enquiry procedure".

Justice Varma, who is the second senior-most judge in the Delhi High Court, was appointed to the court on October 11, 2021.

The purported discovery of the huge stash of cash happened following a fire at Varma's Lutyens Delhi residence at around 11.35 pm on March 14, prompting the Delhi fire department personnel to rush to the spot and douse it. The quantum of the alleged discovered amount was also not known.

The incident created ripples in the legal circuit, with many voices calling for the judge's resignation. Some also criticised the move only to transfer him.The incident also echoed in the Rajya Sabha.

On Friday, Justice Varma, who is currently heading a division bench dealing with cases of sales tax, GST, company appeals and other appeals of the original side, did not hold court, said his court master.

To put to rest the supposed conjectures, the top court's statement said, "There is misinformation and rumours being spread with regard to the incident at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma."

While confirming reports that the apex court collegium met to discuss the reported incident at the Delhi residence of Justice Varma, the top court said Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya would submit a report to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Friday. It was not immediately known whether the report was submitted.

After receiving the information about the incident, 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 the collegium meeting on March 20.

"The report will be examined and processed for further and necessary action," the statement added.

The apex court said the proposal for transfer him was examined by the apex court collegium comprising the CJI and four senior-most judges on March 20, and thereafter letters were sent to the consultee judges of the top court, the chief justices of the high courts concerned apart from Justice Varma.

"Responses received will be examined and, thereupon, the collegium will pass a resolution," said Justice Upadhyaya.

The chief justice's reaction came when a senior lawyer Arun Bhardwaj mentioned before him that he and many other advocates were pained and shaken by the incident and urged the chief justice to take some steps on the administrative side. After the lawyer said many in the bar were "shaken" by the development, Justice Upadhyaya lamented, "So is everybody. We are conscious.

The Allahabad High Court Bar Association opposed the "transfer" of Justice Varma, saying it was not a "trash bin".

"We were taken aback that the Supreme Court has transferred Justice Yashwant Varma back to Allahabad High Court...," it said in a resolution.

The resolution, naming association president and senior advocate Anil Tiwari as the signatory, alleged that the discovery of the "unaccounted money" from the judge's house was of "Rs 15 crore".

The Delhi High Court website shows Justice Varma enrolled as an advocate on August 8, 1992. He was appointed as an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court on October 13, 2014. He took oath as a permanent judge of the Allahabad High Court on February 1, 2016.

The top court has an in-house inquiry mechanism in place to deal with allegations against judges of the Constitutional courts.

The procedure entails the CJI, after a preliminary inquiry, forming a committee of three Supreme Court judges to enquire into the matter after seeking the response of the judge concerned. Based on the report of the panel, further action could be taken.

A judge of a constitutional court can be removed from office only through an impeachment motion passed by Parliament. No judge has been impeached in India's history. Though some faced proceedings, they resigned before completion.