SC shares visuals of charred currencies found at Justice Varma's house, forms internal probe panel

New Delhi: Amid the allegations against Delhi High Court justice Yashwant Varma, the Suprme Court of India took a surprising move publicising the details of the in-house inquiry report on the cash discovery. The apex court late on Saturday night uploaded the report including photos and videos of the cash discovery incident on its official website. In the visuals and photos, charred pile of currencies were spotted. 

As recommended in the 25-page report, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna constituted an in-house committee to conduct an inquiry over the allegations against Varma. 

The SC also asked Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya not to assign any judicial work to Justice Varma.

As per the report, the cash was discovered at a storeroom at Justice Varma's house during a firefighting operation on the night of Holi, March 14. 

Justice Varma alleges conspiracy
In his explanation to the Delhi High Court Chief Justice, Varma dismissed the allegations and termed it as a conspiracy against him. His statement was also included in the report submitted before the Supreme Court.

Justice Varma has "unequivocally" stated that no cash was ever placed in the storeroom "either by me or any of my family members and (I) strongly denounce the suggestion that the alleged cash belonged to us".

He said the allegations of cash discovery at his residence clearly appeared to be a conspiracy to frame and malign him.

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

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

"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 March 16, 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 March 15, 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, and made public Saturday night.

The three-member inquiry committee formed by the SC earlier in the day 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).

Justice Varma was appointed as a judge of the Delhi High Court on October 11, 2021. He is currently heading a division bench dealing with cases of sales tax, the Goods and Services Tax (GST), company appeals and other appeals on the original side.

According to a PTI report, 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 only be removed from office through an impeachment motion passed by Parliament.