Justice Varma cash row: Supreme Court makes public in-house inquiry report by Delhi HC Chief Justice

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

New Delhi: In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court late on Saturday night uploaded on its website an in-house inquiry report, including photos and videos, into alleged discovery of a huge stash of cash at the residence of Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma.

As recommended in the 25-page report, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna constituted an in-house committee to conduct an inquiry and asked Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya not to assign any judicial work to Justice Varma.

The report contains photos and videos of the cash allegedly discovered at a storeroom at Justice Varma's house during a firefighting operation on the night of Holi, March 14. It also contains his response.

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.

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 Marg 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).

"The Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi for the time being has been asked not to assign any judicial work to Mr Justice Yashwant Varma," a statement from the top court said earlier on Saturday.

The purported discovery of the huge stash of cash happened after a fire broke out at Justice Varma's Lutyens' Delhi residence at around 11:35 on the night of Holi on March 14.

In a statement on Friday, the Supreme Court said the Delhi High Court chief justice had initiated an in-house inquiry against Justice Varma and separately, there was a proposal to transfer the judge to the Allahabad High Court.

"There is misinformation and rumours are being spread with regard to the incident at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma," the statement said.

Upon receiving the information, 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 a meeting of the apex court collegium on March 20.

The Supreme Court had said the proposal for transferring Justice Varma was examined by the apex court collegium comprising the CJI and the four senior most judges on March 20 and thereafter, letters were shot off to the consultee judges of the top court and the chief justices of the high courts concerned, besides Justice Varma.

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

The main opposition Congress on Saturday said the incident has raised serious concerns and urged the Supreme Court to take strong measures to uphold people's trust in the judiciary. It also said the incident should not give a handle to the executive to control judicial appointments in higher courts.

Congress general secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala said the incident has shocked the nation, including the legal fraternity.

Venugopal said the country is looking towards the Supreme Court for strong measures, while Surjewala said the top court must find answers on judicial accountability.

The Delhi High Court website shows Justice Varma was 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, before being 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.

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.