In an unprecedented move aimed at maintaining transparency, the Supreme Court of India has uploaded a report submitted by Delhi High Court Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya regarding allegations of a cash stash discovered at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma. The report, now publicly accessible on the Supreme Court’s website, also includes Justice Varma’s response to the accusations, along with relevant documents linked to the matter.
According to sources cited by NDTV, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna consulted fellow collegium members—Justice BR Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, Justice AS Oka, and Justice Vikram Nath—on whether to make the report public. The collegium members unanimously agreed, viewing it as a necessary step to uphold judicial integrity and counter misinformation surrounding the issue.
Justice Varma Denies Allegations, Calls It a “Conspiracy”
Justice Yashwant Varma has strongly refuted the allegations, dismissing claims that a significant amount of cash was discovered at his residence.
“I was completely shocked to see the contents of the video, as it depicted something that was not present at the site when I saw it. This led me to conclude that there was a clear attempt to frame and malign me,” Justice Varma stated, referring to a video shared by the Delhi Police Commissioner. To protect confidentiality, some portions of the uploaded documents—including specific names—have been redacted.
Findings of the Report and Supreme Court’s Inquiry
The report submitted to Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna details Justice Varma’s version of events. According to Justice Varma, he was in Bhopal at the time of the alleged incident and first heard about it from his daughter.
The report also reveals that CJI Khanna had sent three key questions to the Delhi High Court Chief Justice for Justice Varma to address:
1. How does he explain the presence of cash in the room located within his premises?
2. What is the source of the cash found in the said room?
3. Who removed the burnt money from the room on the morning of 15 March 2025?
The Chief Justice of India requested details about Justice Varma’s official staff, personal security officers, and security personnel posted at his residence over the past six months. He also suggested obtaining call record details from mobile service providers for both official and personal phone numbers used by Justice Varma during this period. CJI Khanna advised that Justice Varma be asked not to dispose of his mobile phones or delete any messages, conversations, or data from his devices. The Delhi High Court Chief Justice conveyed these questions to Justice Varma, requesting his response by midnight on Saturday, given the seriousness of the allegations.
Justice Varma’s Explanation
Justice Varma clarified that the fire had broken out in a storeroom near the staff quarters of his official residence during the intervening night of 14-15 March.
“This room was generally used by various individuals to store items such as old furniture, bottles, crockery, mattresses, used carpets, speakers, garden tools, and materials belonging to the Central Public Works Department (CPWD). It remained unlocked and was accessible from both the main entrance and the backdoor of the staff quarters. Importantly, this storeroom was separate from my main residence and was not a room within my house, contrary to the claims made in media reports by The Times of India and others,” Justice Varma explained. He further stated that neither he nor his wife were in Delhi at the time, as they were travelling in Madhya Pradesh. Only his daughter and elderly mother were present at home. He returned to Delhi on the evening of 15 March via an IndiGo flight from Bhopal.
“We have been trying to make sense of the allegations against us. The presumption that the cash allegedly found belonged to me or my family places an unfair burden on us to account for something that was supposedly located in a commonly used storage area accessible to many people,” he added. Justice Varma also raised concerns about the authenticity of the video footage, arguing that even if it was recorded at the scene, no cash was officially seized or recovered.
“No staff members were shown any remnants of cash or currency that might have been found at the site. I personally enquired with my staff, and they confirmed that there was no ‘removal’ of cash from the premises. The only items cleared were debris and materials considered salvageable, which remain stored in a separate area of my residence,” he asserted.
Expressing his bewilderment over the allegations, he added - “It defies logic to suggest that anyone would store currency in an easily accessible storeroom, detached from the main residence, where numerous individuals could enter. Moreover, no cash was recovered from the actual living quarters of my home. These unfounded accusations have severely tarnished my reputation, which is of utmost importance for a judge.”
Legal Community Reacts
Senior advocate Harish Salve, known for his criticism of the collegium system, commented on the case in an interview with NDTV. He argued that the collegium was “not equipped” to handle matters like this, involving allegations of large sums of money supposedly found at a judge’s residence. Salve pointed out that the Delhi Fire Department had reported no actual recovery of cash from Justice Varma’s bungalow, which, in his view, created an “odd and murky” situation.
Justice Varma’s Judicial Career and Transfer to Allahabad High Court
Justice Yashwant Varma began his legal career as an advocate in August 1992. He was appointed an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court in October 2014 and took oath as a permanent judge in February 2016. In October 2021, he was elevated to the Delhi High Court, where he currently presides over a division bench handling cases related to sales tax, Goods and Services Tax (GST), and company appeals.
Recent reports linked Justice Varma’s transfer to the Allahabad High Court with the cash stash controversy. However, the Supreme Court has categorically denied any connection between the two matters. It clarified that the transfer was an independent decision, unrelated to the inquiry into the alleged cash discovery.
The apex court also emphasised that the ongoing in-house investigation follows the procedure established by the Supreme Court itself and is not influenced by external factors. Additionally, it highlighted that misinformation and speculation had contributed to misleading narratives surrounding Justice Varma’s transfer.
With inputs from agencies
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