In the latest revelation in the Justice Yashwant Varma cash controversy, it is being reported that the junior Delhi Police officials who recorded the videos of the burning cash at the judge’s residence were instructed to delete the videos and not to make copies of them.
According to the Republic, the videos of the burnt cash which formed a crucial piece of evidence were initially shared with senior officials. Later on, after the videos reached all the stakeholders, instructions were issued from within the police department to delete all the videos keeping an original copy and to prevent them from circulating.
#BreakingNews In #JudgeCashVideo: Multiple Videos Shot But Were Deleted, Asked Not To Circulate
— Republic (@republic) March 23, 2025
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As per Republic, multiple agencies were present at the scene during the fire incident like the fire department, police, NDMC, CPWD etc, and several personnel made videos. However, when the videos were sent to higher officials, they were instructed to delete them and not share them.
Multiple videos of the burnt cash were reportedly recorded by the officials present at the spot. One of the videos showing burnt cash was released by the Supreme Court last night.
Documents released by the apex court state that the burnt debris was removed a day after the fire incident, on 15th March morning. “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,” stated Delhi High Court chief justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya in his report submitted to CJI of India.
This is why the Registrar-cum-Secretary sent by the Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya didn’t find any cash when he went there to inspect the site after the fire incident. The Registrar-cum-Secretary was accompanied by Justice Varma and his private secretary during the inspection and he said that there was no currency at the spot. Justice Varma also denied having any knowledge about the cash.
#BreakingNews | Delhi Police Junior Cops who shot the video were told to delete it, barred from circulation
— Republic (@republic) March 23, 2025
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The fire incident occurred at Justice Varma’s official bungalow at 30 Tughlak Crescent, New Delhi late in the night on 14th March. The next day, i.e., 15th March, Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, received a call from the Commissioner of Police, Delhi, Sanjay Arora, at around 4:50 PM. He informed Justice Upadhyaya about the fire incident and the burnt cash at Justice Varma’s residence. Justice Upadhyaya informed CJI Khanna. The same day, Justice Upadhyaya sent the Registrar-cum-Secretary for inspection of the site of the incident. By that time, Justice Varma has also returned from Bhopal.
This raises an important question as to who removed the burnt cash from the site of the fire incident and on whose instructions. The removal of the burnt cash from the site of the incident amounts to destruction with evidence which is a criminal offence. Besides, why the instructions were issued to remove the videos of the burnt cash also remains a question to be answered.
Ever since the news of the fire accident at Justice Varama’s residence boke out, new twists and turns have been emerging in the matter every day. 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.
Interestingly, the fire incident occurred on 14th March but the news about the incident broke out on 20th March, a week later. Moreover, the Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg initially denied reports of finding piles of cash at the judge’s residence but later on, he denied having given any such statement to any media outlet and dismissed his earlier quoted by the media as fake news.
In the meantime, a transfer order was also issued by the Supreme Court transferring Justice Varma to Allahabad High Court. However, the Supreme Court yesterday denied any link between Collegium’s proposal to transfer the judge to Allahabad High Court, saying that it was a routine transfer proposal that has not been finalized yet.
On Saturday (22nd March), the Supreme Court publicly released a report on its website including three images and a video of the incident. The same day, a three-member committee was formed by the Supreme Court to conduct a probe into the matter. The committee is chaired by Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, alongside Justice GS Sandhawalia of the Himachal Pradesh High Court and Justice Anu Sivaraman of the Karnataka High Court. The committee will investigate the allegations and submit a report to the Chief Justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna. The CJI also asked the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court to not assign any case to Justice Varma.
