Supreme Court initiates in-house probe against Delhi High Court judge after 'pile of cash' recovered from house

As a step in this direction, a report has been sought from him with regard to the incident.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has initiated a "procedure" for an in-house inquiry against a Delhi High Court judge, Justice Yashwant Varma, and decided to transfer him, on the basis of an adverse report allegedly in connection with the recovery of cash pile during a fire at his residence here.

As a step in this direction, a report has been sought from Delhi High Court's Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya with regard to the incident, sources said.

The Collegium, led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, met on Thursday evening and decided to transfer Delhi High Court judge, Justice Yashwant Varma, to his parent Allahabad High Court.

However, official sources maintained the proposal for transfer of Justice Varma is "independent and separate from in-house inquiry procedure".

In a written statement, official sources, however, said, "There is misinformation and rumours being spread with regard to the incident at the residence of Justice Varma".

They said the High Court's Chief Justice commenced the in-house inquiry procedure collecting evidence and information. He was expected to give his report on Friday.

"The report will be examined and processed for further and necessary action," they said.

With regard to transfer of Justice Varma, second senior most judge in Delhi High Court to his parent High Court at Allahabad, the Collegium said the reported incident had happened in Delhi.

"The proposal was examined by the Collegium comprising of the Chief Justice of India and four senior most judges of the Supreme Court on March 20, 2025, and thereafter letters were written to the consultee judges of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justices of the High Courts concerned and Justice Yashwant Varma. Responses received will be examined and, thereupon, the Collegium will pass a resolution," they said.

The procedure for inquiry as well as transfer have been initiated into matter after the members of the Collegium were reportedly apprised of a video purportedly of burning cash at the residence of Justice Varma. Sources, however, said that there was no estimate of the quantum of cash at the residence of the judge.

The Collegium members also suggested to the CJI to try and get the fact-finding report at the earliest, as it will help in taking a decision regarding future action, sources said.

The fire incident occurred on March 14 at about 11.30 pm. Justice Varma was not home when the fire incident occurred, and fire tenders and police reportedly stumbled on the money in a room, while dousing the flames. Justice Varma has not yet responded to the reports. 

The higher-ups in the police were informed about the incident. The government authorities brought it to the attention of the CJI, who called for a meeting of the Collegium to discuss the matter.

Justice Varma did not hold the court in the Delhi High Court on Friday. A lawyer raised the issue before a bench led by Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya, saying the incident has pained us, steps must be taken on administrative side to prevent such incidents in future. The Chief Justice, however, responded by saying the judges are conscious of it.

Meanwhile, the Allahabad High Court Bar Association stated that it has been taken aback at the decision of the Collegium to repatriate Justice Verma to his parent High Court on "the ground of his involvement in corruption wherein a sum of Rs 15 Crore has been found in his bungalow by the fire department".

It said this decision raises a serious question "as to whether Allahabad High Court is a trash bin".

According his profile on the Delhi High Court's website, Justice Varma was born on January 6, 1969 at Allahabad, now Prayagraj. His father was the judge of the Allahabad High Court.

He pursued the B Com (Honours) degree course at Hansraj College Delhi University. He was awarded the LLB degree by Rewa University, Madhya Pradesh and thereafter enrolled as an advocate on August 8, 1992. 

As an advocate at the Allahabad High Court, he had a varied practice handling matters relating to constitutional, labour and industrial legislations, corporate laws, taxation and allied branches of law. He was the Special Counsel for the Allahabad High Court from 2006 till elevation. He also held the position of Chief Standing Counsel.

He was designated as a senior advocate in 2013.

Justice Varma was appointed as additional judge of the High Court on October 13, 2014. He took oath as the permanent judge on February 1, 2014. He was appointed as a judge of the Delhi High Court on October 11, 2021.