Justice Yashwant Varma cash row: 3-judge panel submits report to CJI Sanjiv Khanna

“The three-member Committee consisting of Mr Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Mr Justice G S Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, and Ms Justice Anu Sivaraman, Judge of the High Court of Karnataka, constituted for conducting an inquiry into the allegations against Mr Justice Yashwant Varma, a sitting Judge, has submitted its report dated 03.05.2025 to the Chief Justice of India on 04.05.2025,” said a release issued by the top court.

On March 20, the SC Collegium proposed that Justice Varma, who was a judge of the Delhi High Court at the time, be transferred to Allahabad. As reports linked it to the alleged discovery of the cash, the top court clarified that the “proposal for the transfer…is independent and separate from the in-house enquiry procedure” initiated by the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Justice D K Upadhyay after receiving information about the alleged incident.

On March 22, CJI Khanna constituted a three-member committee to probe the allegations against the judge. The same day, the SC also made public the report submitted by the Delhi HC Chief Justice to CJI Khanna.

While confirming the presence of cash-filled sacks at the residence of Justice Varma, the report of the Delhi High Court Chief Justice Upadhyay also pointed to the removal of cash from the scene the morning after the fire.

“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 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,” the HC Chief Justice’s report said adding “the entire matter warrants a deeper probe.”

In his explanation to the HC Chief Justice, Justice Varma said, “I state unequivocally that no cash was ever placed in that storeroom either by me or any of my family members and strongly denounce the suggestion that the alleged cash belonged to us. 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. It is a room which is completely disassociated from my living areas, and a boundary wall demarcates my living area from that outhouse. I only wish that the media had conducted some enquiry before I came to be indicted and defamed in the press,” he added.

On March 24, the SC Collegium formally recommended Justice Varma’s transfer to the Allahabad High Court.