Justice Yashwant Varma Cash Row : Judges' Committee Submits Report To CJI After In-House Inquiry

The committee of judges which held an in-house probe against Justice Yashwant Varma over allegations of cash discovery at his official residence submitted its report to Chief Justice of India Sanijv Khanna on May 4.

"The three-member Committee consisting of Mr Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Mr Justice G.S. Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh and Ms Justice Anu Sivaraman, Judge of the High Court of Karnataka, constituted for conducting an inquiry into the allegations against Mr Justice Yashwant Varma, a sitting Judge, has submitted its report dated 03.05.2025 to the Chief Justice of India on 04.05.2025," the Supreme Court stated in a press note.

The contents of the report are not known.

It was on March 22 that CJI constituted the committee, after reports emerged regarding the accidental discovery of a huge stash of cash from a store-room at the out-house of Justice Varma's official residence during a firefighting operation.  At the time, Justice Varma was a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court. After the controversy, Justice Varma was transferred to the Allahabad High Court, his parent High Court.

CJI took the decision for an in-house inquiry on the basis of a preliminary report given by the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Justice DK Upadhyay, who opined that the "the entire matter warrants a deeper probe."

Justice Varma, in his reply to the Delhi High Court Chief Justice, denied storing any cash, and said that the store-room was accessible to the staff and was unlocked. He said that when the fire operation took place, he was not present in Delhi. Pointing out that no cash has been seized, Justice Varma termed the entire allegations a "conspiracy to frame" him.

The Supreme Court, in a move towards public transparency, uploaded the reports and documents related to the fire incident, including the photos and videos showing burning cash.