Delhi High Court Judge Justice Yashwant Varma has denied allegations that burnt currency was found and removed from his residence during a fire on the night of March 14-15.
He said his staff saw no cash when they returned to the scene after the fire was doused.
In a letter to Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya, Justice Varma wrote, “None of my staff were shown any burnt currency.”
He further added that only debris and salvageable items were cleared and remain stored at his residence.
The controversy comes after the Supreme Court Collegium proposed his transfer on March 20.
Reports claimed that cash was found at his home.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna then asked Chief Justice Upadhyaya to seek an explanation from him.
The CJI wanted details on the cash’s source and who allegedly removed it.
Justice Varma explained that the fire occurred in a storeroom used for old furniture, crockery, mattresses, and other household items.
The room, he noted, was open and accessible from both the front gate and the staff quarters’ backdoor. He stressed that it was not a private part of his home.
At the time of the fire, Justice Varma and his wife were in Madhya Pradesh.
They returned to Delhi on March 15 evening. Meanwhile, his daughter and private secretary alerted the fire service. Their calls, he said, are officially recorded.
No Burnt Cash Was Seized
Justice Varma questioned why no burnt cash was recovered if it was truly found at the site.
“What baffles me is that no sacks of burnt currency were ever seized,” he wrote.
He insisted that neither his daughter, private secretary, nor household staff saw any such cash.
A video clip of the fire surfaced, but Justice Varma raised doubts.
“Assuming without admitting that the video was taken at the time of the incident, none of it appears to have been recovered or seized,” he wrote.
Justice Varma firmly denied keeping any cash in the storeroom.
He called the allegation ‘preposterous’ and said storing money in an open, shared area was ‘incredible and incredulous’.
He pointed out that the room was separate from his main residence and divided by a boundary wall.
Chief Justice Upadhyaya showed him the video for the first time, and he was shocked.
“It depicted something that was not found on site as I had seen it,” he wrote. He claimed the allegations were part of a conspiracy.
He also linked them to false accusations against him on social media in December 2024.
Allegations Have Damaged His Reputation
Justice Varma stressed that the accusations had severely damaged his reputation.
“In the life of a judge, nothing matters more than reputation and character. That has been irreparably damaged,” he wrote.
He called the claims baseless and driven by speculation, not evidence.
Meanwhile, CJI Khanna instructed Chief Justice Upadhyaya to ensure that Justice Varma did not dispose of his mobile phones or delete any messages or data.
The CJI also sought call records of staff and security officers at his residence over the past six months.
Justice Varma reaffirmed that no burnt cash was found or removed.
He strongly denied any suggestion that the money belonged to him or his family.
He urged a fair review of the claims and called the entire episode an attempt to malign him.
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