Cash-discovery row: Delhi HC CJ’s report, police video prompt CJI to set up in-house inquiry panel

New Delhi: A video shared by the police commissioner of burnt wads of cash at Justice Yashwant Varma’s residence and preliminary findings of the Delhi High Court chief justice calling for a “deeper probe” have prompted Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna to constitute a committee to conduct an in-house inquiry into the allegations against the judge.
In an unprecedented move, the top court, late on Saturday evening, uploaded on its website the inquiry report of Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya — complete with photos and videos — regarding the alleged discovery of a substantial amount of cash from the residence of Justice Varma, a judge in the high court.
Justice Upadhyaya’s report to the CJI contains material with regard to official communication that says four to five semi-burnt sacks of Indian currency notes were found from the judge’s Lutyens’ Delhi residence.
“On examining the incident reported, the material available and the response of Justice Yashwant Varma, what I find is that the Commissioner of Police in his report dated March 16, 2025 has reported that as per the guard posted at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma, the debris and other partially-burnt articles were removed from the room where the fire had broken out in the morning of March 15, 2025….
“Accordingly, I am of the prima facie opinion that the entire matter warrants a deeper probe,” Justice Upadhyaya has said said in his report dated March 21 and made public on Saturday evening.
The three-member inquiry committee formed by the CJI consists of Justices Sheel Nagu (Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court), G S Sandhawalia (Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court) and Karnataka High Court judge Anu Sivaraman.