Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma has denied all cash recovery allegations, calling it a plot to defame him. He demands a full inquiry to prove his honesty and protect his reputation.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
NEW DELHI: Delhi High Court judge, Justice Yashwant Varma, said that the allegations about cash found at his residence are completely false. He believes it is a planned conspiracy to damage his image and frame him in a wrong way.
Justice Varma gave a detailed explanation in his reply to Delhi High Court Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya after he was asked to clarify the matter following an in-house inquiry started by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna.
Justice Varma made it clear that the fire happened in a part of the property that is not his main residence. The fire broke out in an outhouse that is used like a storeroom to keep old and useless things, and not in his actual home.
“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.”
Justice Varma also disagreed with the claim that cash was recovered or seized from the location of the fire. He mentioned that nobody who was present at the spot saw any cash or was shown any such thing.
“That takes me to the video clip which has been shared with me. Assuming without admitting that the video was taken immediately at the time of the incident at the site, none of it appears to have been recovered or seized. The second aspect which I need to underscore is that none of the staff was shown any remnants of cash or currency that may have been present on site.”
This reply came after a media report claimed that on the evening of March 14, a fire broke out at Justice Varma’s residence and some unaccounted cash was found by firefighters. This led to the Supreme Court Collegium deciding to send Justice Varma back to the Allahabad High Court, which is his original (parent) High Court.
After this news broke, CJI started an in-house inquiry, and as part of that, the Delhi High Court Chief Justice asked for Justice Varma’s explanation. Justice Varma said he was shocked when he saw the video shared by the Commissioner of Police. He said that what the video showed was not something he saw at the location when he visited.
He referred to a report dated March 16, written by the Registrar cum Secretary to the Delhi High Court Chief Justice. This officer was one of the first people to visit the site on March 15, just after the fire incident. The report clearly did not mention any cash being found.
Justice Varma explained the events in his reply like this:
“You had thereafter requested for the PPS to be permitted to visit the site and to which I had readily agreed. The PPS arrived later that night and when I, my PS along with the PPS inspected the gutted room, no currency was either found nor was any cash in any state seen present on site. This also stands corroborated from the report of (PPS) which has been provided to me. Post that inspection and on your instructions, the gutted room remains in that state even today.”
He strongly denied the claim that any burnt currency was ever found.
“What baffles me is the complete absence of any sacks of allegedly burnt currency which were ever recovered or seized. We categorically assert that neither my daughter, PS nor household staff were shown these so-called sacks of burnt currency. I stand by my consistent position that when they accessed the storeroom, there was no currency, burnt or otherwise, which could be seen. I request you to bear in mind that the storeroom is removed from my residence and is used as a general dump room for disused articles and other sundry household articles. I wonder who would countenance an allegation that currency would be kept in a storeroom in a corner of the house.”
Justice Varma also said that this seems to be part of a bigger plan to defame him. He mentioned that some posts had also come up on social media about an old FIR filed by the CBI in 2018, targeting him and others.
This made him believe even more that someone was trying to trap him.
“It was this which prompted me to observe that this clearly appeared to be a conspiracy to frame and malign me. It also lends credence to my firm belief that the entire incident is part of a sequence of events which occurred in the recent past including the unfounded allegations that circulated on social media in December 2024 [which too I had apprised you about during the course of our meeting] and your first reaction of the incident being that of arson. It was the lack of knowledge of connection with the purported discovery of currency is what prompted my reaction in our first interaction in respect of this episode and when I had alluded to a conspiracy to frame me.”
At the end of his reply, Justice Varma firmly denied every accusation and repeated that no one from his family or staff saw any burnt cash. He also said that neither the police nor the firemen told them about any recovery.
“I unequivocally state that neither I nor any of my family members had stored or kept any cash or currency in that storeroom at any point of time. Our cash withdrawals, made from time to time, are all documented and always through regular banking channels, the use of UPI applications and cards. Insofar as the allegation of the recovery of cash, 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. This may also be viewed in light of the statement of the Chief of the Fire Service which I have gathered from news reports.”
Justice Varma also shared how much the incident has mentally and emotionally affected him. He said that as a judge, a person’s name and honesty is everything.
“In the life of a judge, nothing matters more than reputation and character. That has been severely tarnished and irreparably damaged. The baseless allegations that have been levelled against me have proceeded on mere innuendos and an unproven assumption that the cash allegedly seen and found belonged to me.”
He added that the incident has damaged his name which he had built over the past decade while working honestly as a High Court judge. He now feels helpless as he has no way left to protect his image.
Because of this, Justice Varma has requested that an official inquiry be conducted into his work and character as a judge so that the truth can come out.
“I would also beseech you to bear in consideration that in all my years as a Judge of a High Court, no such allegation had ever been made in the past nor any doubt cast on my integrity. In fact, I would be grateful if an enquiry is made with respect to my functioning as a judge and what is the perception of the legal fraternity with regard to my integrity and honesty in the discharge of my judicial functioning.”
Watch Video Below As Supreme Court Uploads Full Report
In a very rare and transparent step, the Supreme Court of India uploaded a full report on its website about an incident involving Delhi High Court Judge, Justice Yashwant Varma.
This report was submitted by Delhi High Court Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya. The report includes all the related documents and even the detailed reply given by Justice Varma himself.
The reason behind uploading such a sensitive report on the Supreme Court website is to ensure full transparency and stop any false news or confusion spreading among people.
The Chief Justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna, took this big step after discussing with other senior judges from the Supreme Court collegium, including Justice BR Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, Justice AS Oka, and Justice Vikram Nath.
All of them agreed that it was better to make the report public.
This shows that the top court wants to maintain the clean image of the judiciary and not allow any rumours to spoil its name.
Justice Yashwant Varma has denied all the claims that a big amount of cash was found in his house.
He clearly said,
“… 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,”.
He said this while referring to a video that was shown by the police chief.
Some parts of the report have been hidden, especially names and personal information, to protect privacy and confidentiality. In the report, the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court wrote to the Chief Justice of India and said,
“… He [Justice Varma] also informed me that at the time of the incident, he was in Bhopal and got the information from his daughter. Justice Verma further told me that at the moment, black burnt material (soot) is lying in the room. I thereafter showed him the photographs and the video on my WhatsApp which were shared with me by the Commissioner of Police. He [Justice Varma] then expressed some apprehension about some conspiracy against him.”
On March 21, Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna sent three important questions to the Delhi High Court Chief Justice. These questions were meant for Justice Varma to answer.
The three questions were –
- How does he explain the presence of cash in the room found in his premises?
- What is the source of that cash?
- Who removed the burnt cash from the room on the morning of March 15, 2025?
The Chief Justice of India also wanted details of all the staff members, security guards, and personal security officers who were posted at Justice Varma’s residence in the last six months. He also advised checking the call details of Justice Varma’s mobile phone numbers during the same period by asking the mobile companies.
He said,
“Justice Yashwant Varma may be requested to not dispose of his mobile phone(s) or delete or modify any conversation, messages or data from his mobile phone(s). The reply submitted by Justice Yashwant Varma, along with your comments, may be furnished to me immediately for further action,”
Because this matter is very serious and sensitive, Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya asked Justice Varma to give answers to these questions before Saturday midnight.
He said,
“The reported incident is very disturbing”.
Justice Yashwant Varma gave a full response. He explained that a fire happened on the night of March 14-15 in a storeroom near the staff quarters in his official house.
He said,
“This room was generally utilised by all and sundry to store articles such as unused furniture, bottles, crockery, mattresses, used carpets, old speakers, garden implements as well as CPWD material. This room is unlocked and accessible both from the official front gate as well as the backdoor of the staff quarters. It is disconnected from the main residence and is surely not a room in my house as has been portrayed and suggested in the article which appeared in the Times of India and certain other news reports. On that date, my wife and I were not in Delhi and travelling in Madhya Pradesh and it was only my daughter and aged mother who were at home. I returned to Delhi only on the evening of 15 March from Bhopal travelling on an IndiGo flight with my wife,”
He added more in his reply and said,
“We have, since that fateful night, been continuously trying to find an explanation for the allegations which are being levelled and with us being required to prove an allegation which is premised on cash being discovered and the same presumed to belong to me or my family members. That presumption requires me to not only furnish an explanation with respect to the existence of an article allegedly present in a commonly used outhouse and general storeroom which was freely accessible but also requires me to ‘account’ for the same.”
“That takes me to the video clip which has been shared with me. Assuming without admitting that the video was taken immediately at the time of the incident at the site, none of it appears to have been recovered or seized. The second aspect which I need to underscore is that none of the staff was shown any remnants of cash or currency that may have been present on site. I have made my own enquiries from the staff present who have also stated that there was no ‘removal’ of currency which was allegedly found at the site or removed from the premises. The only thing which was cleared was debris and what they considered to be salvageable. That is still present in the house and can be seen kept apart in one part of the residence.”
“What baffles me is the complete absence of any sacks of allegedly burnt currency which were ever recovered or seized. We categorically assert that neither my daughter, PS [private secretary] nor household staff were shown these so-called sacks of burnt currency. I stand by my consistent position that when they accessed the storeroom, there was no currency, burnt or otherwise, which could be seen. I request you to bear in mind that the storeroom is removed from my residence and is used as a general dump room for disused articles and other sundry household articles. I wonder who would countenance an allegation that currency would be kept in a storeroom in a corner of the house and which is freely accessible from amongst others the back wicker gate also.”
“I would beseech you to also bear in consideration that no currency was recovered from the premises that we actually occupy and use as a family. That part of the premises is as indicated above removed from the living quarters. It is in the aforesaid background that I urge you to absolve me of these unfounded and baseless allegations. In the life of a judge, nothing matters more than reputation and character. That has been severely tarnished and irreparably damaged. The baseless allegations that have been levelled against me have proceeded on mere innuendos and an unproven assumption that the cash allegedly seen and found belonged to me,”
Senior advocate Harish Salve also gave his opinion on this matter and said the current collegium system is not capable of handling such sensitive issues. He told the media that the system is “not equipped” to manage a situation like the alleged recovery of a large sum of money from a judge’s house.
He also said the Delhi fire chief himself has confirmed that no cash was found at the judge’s bungalow, and this creates a very “odd and murky” situation.
Justice Yashwant Varma has had a long and respectable career. As per the Delhi High Court website, he became a lawyer in August 1992. He was appointed as an additional judge in the Allahabad High Court in October 2014, and in February 2016, he became a permanent judge there. Later, in October 2021, he was made a judge in the Delhi High Court. Currently, he handles important legal matters like GST, sales tax, and company-related appeals.
The Supreme Court also made it clear that the recent recommendation to transfer Justice Varma back to the Allahabad High Court has nothing to do with the cash case. The in-house inquiry is separate and follows the rules laid down by the top court itself. The Supreme Court has strongly said that false information and fake rumours are the reasons why people are wrongly connecting the transfer with this issue.
This full story shows how the Supreme Court is trying to maintain truth, fairness, and transparency in a very delicate matter. It also highlights the seriousness of reputation and honesty in a judge’s life.
READ FULL REPORT BELOW-
Would You Like Assistance In Drafting A Legal Notice Or Complaint?
CLICK HERE
Click Here to Read Our Reports on Justice Yashwant Varma
FOLLOW US ON YOUTUBE FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES
