Supreme Court Makes Report On Justice Varma Cash Row Public—What You Need To Know

The Supreme Court on Saturday (22 March) made public a report by Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya on allegations of a cash stash found at Justice Yashwant Varma’s residence.

The decision was taken in the interest of transparency by the top court.

Along with the findings, the report includes Justice Varma’s response to the allegation and documents linked to the matter.

Denying the allegations, Justice Varma firmly stated that no large sum of cash was discovered at his residence.

“… I was totally shocked to see the contents of the video since that depicted something which was not found on site as I had seen it. It was this which prompted me to observe that this clearly appeared to be a conspiracy to frame and malign me,” Justice Varma said, referring to a video shared by the Delhi police chief.

To maintain confidentiality, some sections of the documents, including names, have been redacted.

Delhi HC Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya, in his report to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, stated that Justice Varma had informed him he was in Bhopal at the time of the incident and was alerted by his daughter, NDTV reported.

"Justice Varma further told me that at the moment, black burnt material (soot) is lying in the room. I thereafter showed him the photographs and the video on my WhatsApp which were shared with me by the Commissioner of Police. He [Justice Varma] then expressed some apprehension about some conspiracy against him," he added.

As per the documents uploaded on the Supreme Court’s website, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, on 21 March, shared three questions with the Delhi High Court Chief Justice that can be asked to Justice Varma.

The three questions were: how does he account for the presence of money/cash in the room located in his premises? Explain the source of money/cash which was found in the said room. Who is the person who had removed the burnt money/cash from the room in the morning of March 15, 2025?

Additionally, the Chief Justice of India sought details of the official staff of the high court Registry, the personal security officers and the security guards who were posted at Justice Varma’s house in the last six months.

He also proposed contacting the mobile service provider(s) for giving call record details of the official or other mobile phone number(s) of Justice Varma for the last six months.

“Justice Yashwant Varma may be requested to not dispose of his mobile phone(s) or delete or modify any conversation, messages or data from his mobile phone(s). The reply submitted by Justice Yashwant Varma, along with your comments, may be furnished to me immediately for further action,” Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna said in a written communication to the Delhi High Court Chief Justice.

Justice DK Upadhyaya asked these and additional questions to Justice Varma, urging a response by Saturday midnight, citing the “disturbing" nature of the incident.

In his response, Justice Verma said the fire broke out in the storeroom near the staff quarters of his official residence on the intervening night of 14-15 March.

"This room was generally utilised by all and sundry to store articles such as unused furniture, bottles, crockery, mattresses, used carpets, old speakers, garden implements as well as CPWD material. This room is unlocked and accessible both from the official front gate as well as the backdoor of the staff quarters. It is disconnected from the main residence and is surely not a room in my house as has been portrayed and suggested in the article which appeared in the Times of India and certain other news reports. On that date, my wife and I were not in Delhi and travelling in Madhya Pradesh and it was only my daughter and aged mother who were at home. I returned to Delhi only on the evening of 15 March from Bhopal travelling on an IndiGo flight with my wife," Justice Varma said.

"I state unequivocally that no cash was ever placed in that storeroom either by me or any of my family members and strongly denounce the suggestion that the alleged cash belonged to us. The very idea or suggestion that this cash was kept or stored by us is totally preposterous. The suggestion that one would store cash in an open, freely accessible and commonly used storeroom near the staff quarters or in an outhouse verges on the incredible and incredulous," he said.

"We have, since that fateful night, been continuously trying to find an explanation for the allegations which are being levelled and with us being required to prove an allegation which is premised on cash being discovered and the same presumed to belong to me or my family members. That presumption requires me to not only furnish an explanation with respect to the existence of an article allegedly present in a commonly used outhouse and general storeroom which was freely accessible but also requires me to 'account' for the same," he said.

Read Justice Varma's full response and the whole report here.

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