In the case of unaccounted cash found at Delhi High Court Justice Yashwant Varma’s residence after a fire incident, the Supreme Court of India has taken the unprecedented step of releasing several documents related to the case, along with a few photographs and a video clip showing burnt and half-burn currency notes. The apex court has released the report of Delhi High Court chief justice, reports by police and Delhi HC’s registrar and the response by Justice Varma.
In his response, Justice Yashwant Varma has denied keeping at the store room which caught fire on 14th March. However, a perusal by reports by various officials and the Varma’s response show that there are several contradictions in them. Moreover, the photos and videos released by Supreme Court show that cash was indeed burnt during the fire incident.
Here are some of the contradictions:
Who reported the fire
In his response submitted to Delhi HC’s Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, justice Yashwant Varma said that he along with his wife was in Madhya Pradesh when the store room at his residence caught fire, and only his mother and daughter were present at the spot. He said that when the fire broke out around midnight, the fire service was alerted by his daughter and his private secretary. He claimed that calls of the same would be duly recorded.
But the Delhi Police report contradicts this claim. The police has told the court that nobody called the fire service about the fire, and only a PCR call was made by the Justice Varma’s private secretary. As per police, the intimation of the fire was automatically forwarded to the fire service, and that is how firefighters reached the house and doused the fire.
The store room is locked or unlocked
Justice Varma in his response claimed that the store room, which is separate from his main residence, is kept unlocked, and that the room is “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.”
He added, “This room is unlocked and accessible both from the official front gate as well as the backdoor of the staff quarters.” The judged further said, “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.”
However, again this claim contradicts with the police version. The Commissioner of Police has stated that the store room used to be kept locked. Notably, the store room is adjacent to the Guard Room where Central Reserve Police Force (Battalion 70F) is posted.
What happened to the cash
Justice Yashwant Varma has categorically denied the presence of any cash in the store room. He says his daughter and others in the house were not shown any sacks of cash after the fire was douse. He adds no cash was found when he reached the house, which matches with report of Delhi HC’s registrar who visited the house on 15th March evening. The registrar said that when he visited the house at around 9.10 pm, he found no cash in the dark room.
However, the police version and the statements of the guards confirm that there were cash that got burnt in the fire, and the remains of the cash were removed the next morning. In his report, the police commissioner told the Delhi HC CJ that 4-5 half-burnt sacks were found after dousing the fire, and remains of burnt Indian currency notes were found inside the sacks.
Moreover, the police confirmed that debris and half-burnt items were removed from the room the next morning. This confirms that along with other items, the burnt currency notes were also removed in the morning of 15.3.2025.
The report by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya states that the probe so far 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. He added in the report, “, I am of the prima faice opinion that the entire matter warrants a deeper probe.”
The reports by the police, and fire service, and visuals released by the Supreme Court confirms that cash was found after the fire was doused in the store room, and it was removed the next morning.
Notably, while fire service had first reported the cash, Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg on Friday said that firefighters did not find any cash during the operation. However, a day later he denied making any such statement, clarifying that he never said that no cash was found.
The fire incident took place on 14th March, and the courts stepped into action immediately after that, but the matter was made public only on 20th March, a week later. The hushed manner in which the matter has been dealt with by the authorities also raises serious questions on the accountability and transparency of the judiciary as well as the administration.
There are also allegations that police and fire service personnel who recorded videos of the cash were ordered to delete the videos and not circulate them, keeping only one original copy. Reports claim multiple videos were made, while Supreme Court has released only one. Notably, the Supreme Court has now formed a 3-member committee to probe the matter.
