The Supreme Court has refused to entertain a plea seeking a police case against retired Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, after burnt bundles of cash were allegedly found during a Holi-night fire at his Delhi bungalow in March.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan noted that a report on the incident had already been sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu. Since the petitioners had not made any formal representation to either, the court said it couldn’t step in.
“You must first approach the appropriate authorities. Only then can you seek a writ of mandamus,” the court told petitioner Mathews Nedumpara and others, declining to act on their demand for criminal proceedings based on what they claimed were prima facie findings of an internal judicial inquiry.
During the hearing, the bench reminded the petitioners that neither the court nor they had access to the in-house report, and any action must first be requested from the executive branch.
This was the second time the petitioners approached the court—having earlier challenged the judicial in-house inquiry and sought a police probe. That attempt too was dismissed.
The controversy erupted on March 14, the night of Holi, when a fire broke out in an outhouse on Justice Varma’s property. As firefighters battled the blaze, they allegedly discovered charred wads of cash—a claim that has since sparked public interest and legal drama.
