Burnt Cash Spark Probe At Delhi HC Judge Yashwant Varma’s Lutyens’ Delhi Bungalow | WATCH

On Saturday, the Supreme Court published a probe report concerning the discovery of cash at the residence of Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma.

The report, alongside a letter from the Delhi High Court Chief Justice and Justice Varma's response, featured images of charred bundles of banknotes uncovered following a fire at his official residence on March 14, reported India Today.

Photo Credit: PTI; X

Referencing the findings of the Delhi Police Commissioner at Justice Yashwant Varma's home, Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya has called on the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to launch a thorough investigation.

In the 25-page enquiry report, Justice Varma refuted the allegations, labelling them a conspiracy to tarnish his reputation. He maintained that the room where the cash was discovered was open to all, including his staff, gardeners, and even employees of the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).

Visuals of burnt cash from Justice Varmas house. pic.twitter.com/YBWQ3rvTAU

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However, the Delhi High Court Chief Justice rejected Justice Varma's assertion that the room was freely accessible.

"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," Justice Upadhyaya wrote in his report.

"Accordingly, I am of the prima facie opinion that the entire matter warrants a deeper probe," he added.

Justice Varma, however, expressed dismay, stating he was "totally shocked to see the contents of the video" and described the allegations as a "conspiracy to frame and malign" him. He firmly denied that any cash was ever stored in the room, saying, "either by me or any of my family members and strongly denounce the suggestion that the alleged cash belonged to us".

"I was totally shocked to see the contents of the video since that depicted something which was not found on site as I had seen it. It was this which prompted me to observe that this clearly appeared to be a conspiracy to frame and malign me," Justice Varma explained in his response to the Delhi Chief Justice.

The probe report also highlighted questions posed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna to Justice Varma: How does he explain the presence of money/cash in the room on his property? What is the origin of the money/cash found there? And who cleared the burnt money/cash from the room on the morning of 15 March 2025?

In reply, Justice Varma stated, "The very idea or suggestion that this cash was kept or stored by us is totally preposterous. 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". He further emphasised that his financial dealings are fully documented and conducted via standard banking methods, UPI applications, and cards.

"I once again make it clear that no one from my house ever reported seeing any currency in burnt form in the room. In fact, this gets further corroborated from there being no cash or currency which we saw when the site was restored to us after the fire personnel and the police had left the scene quite apart from we being not apprised of any recovery or seizure which was made on the spot," Justice Varma added in his response.

Meanwhile, Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna established a three-member committee on Saturday to carry out an internal enquiry into the allegations against Justice Varma. This followed the report from the Delhi High Court Chief Justice. The committee comprises Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Justice GS Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, and Anu Sivaraman, Judge of the High Court of Karnataka.

The alleged discovery of a substantial amount of cash came to light after a fire broke out at Justice Varma's residence in Lutyens' Delhi at approximately 11:35 pm on Holi night, 14 March, prompting fire service personnel to attend the scene and extinguish the blaze.

Justice Varma was reassigned to Allahabad High Court on Friday, though the Supreme Court clarified that this transfer was unrelated to the cash discovery.