Cash Stash Row: SC In-house Panel Begins Probe, Visits Residence of Justice Varma

PTI, NEW DELHI, MARCH 25, 2025 :  The three members of a Supreme Court-appointed in-house committee visited the residence of Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma on Tuesday as it commenced its inquiry into allegations of the discovery of a cash pile at his residence.

Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Justice G.S. Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, and Anu Sivaraman, a judge of the High Court of Karnataka, reached Justice Varma's official residence at 30, Tughlak Crescent and were inside for around 30-35 minutes. The committee is learned to have inspected the site before leaving in the afternoon, the sources said. It is not known whether Justice Varma was at his residence when the inquiry panel arrived.

The findings of the crucial inquiry will decide the fate of Justice Varma, who is facing allegations that "four to five semi-burnt sacks of Indian currency notes" were found in his Lutyens' home following a fire incident at around 11:35 p.m. on March 14. The apex court Collegium had recommended the repatriation of Justice Varma, who was de-rostered by the Delhi High Court following a directive from Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, to his parent Allahabad High Court.

On March 22, the CJI constituted the three-member committee to conduct an in-house inquiry into allegations against Justice Varma and decided to upload the in-house inquiry report of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyay of the Delhi High Court in the incident. It included photos and videos of the alleged discovery of a huge stash of cash.

Justice Varma strongly denounced the allegations and said no cash was ever placed in the storeroom either by him or any of his family members. In 2014, while dealing with a case of alleged sexual harassment of a subordinate court judge in Madhya Pradesh at the behest of a sitting judge of the High Court, the apex court laid down the in-house procedure and said in the first stage of the in-house procedure, the prima facie veracity of the allegations contained in the complaint is ascertained.

"If so, whether a deeper probe is called for. The first stage does not contemplate an in-depth examination of the allegations. It requires merely an assessment based on the contents of the complaint, and the response of the concerned judge."

"All that the Chief Justice of the High Court is required to do is to determine whether a deeper probe is required. This is to be done on the basis of a logical assessment made on a consideration of the response of the concerned judge (with reference to the allegations levelled in the complaint)," it had said.