‘Cash at judge’s home’: As CJI peruses in-house enquiry report, HC roster retains Justice Yashwant Varma’s name

Key facts about the March 14 fire incident and subsequent developments at the residence of Delhi High Court Judge Yashwant Varma are reported to have been mentioned in an in-house enquiry report being perused by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna over the alleged ‘cash at home’ episode.

The report was submitted by Delhi HC’s Chief Justice, D.K. Upadhyay, late on Friday, recreating the chain of events and the information gathered by fire-fighters and other first responders.

The findings of the in-house probe hold significance as the laid down procedure prescribes that if the enquiry finds credible evidence of wrongdoing against a judge the matter may call for a formal impeachment process.

Despite Justice Varma’s recommended transfer to the Allahabad High Court and speculation over recovery of unaccounted for cash at his home, his name on Saturday continued to appear in the Delhi High Court’s Roster for sitting of judges effective from March 17, 2025.

In the Roster, Justice Varma’s name appeared along with Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar under Division Bench-III which deals with writ petitions challenging Constitutional validity of any Act, Statutory Rule, Regulation or Notification pertaining to Municipal Tax. The Bench is also designated for dealing with matters related to Sales Tax and GST.

Even the Advance Cause list of the High Court for March 24 uploaded on the official website mentioned 45 matters likely to be taken up on Monday by DB-III headed by Justice Varma. On Friday, the day when the alleged ‘cash at home’ was reported, Justice Varma had not reported to office.

In response to the speculation, the Supreme Court issued a clarification stating that Justice Varma's recommended transfer to the Allahabad High Court was not related to the alleged discovery of cash at his official residence. The court stressed that the transfer decision was made independently of the ongoing enquiry into the matter.

Chief of Delhi Fire Services (DFS), Atul Garg, on Friday denied reports attributing to him a statement claiming that no cash was found during firefighting operations at the residence of Justice Varma.

In a related development, some reports said that Justice Varma was earlier named in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR filed in 2018 over an alleged sugar mill bank fraud dating back to 2011-12.

The CBI registered an FIR against Simbhaoli Sugar Mills, its directors, and others, including Yashwant Varma, who was then a non-executive director of the company. The case originated from a complaint by the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), accusing the sugar mill of defrauding the bank of nearly Rs 98 lakh through a fraudulent loan scheme.

The CBI FIR registered in Hapur in Uttar Pradesh against the firm was quashed by the Supreme Court in March last year, disagreeing with the Allahabad High Court’s decision to order a probe by the federal agency into the matter. The top court, however, said action by other agencies could be taken, if required.