SC uploads video of burnt currency given by police, HC CJ suggests deeper probe; judge Yashwant Varma cries conspiracy | India News

NEW DELHI: A video that Delhi Police commissioner Sanjay Arora shared with CJI I Sanjiv Khanna and Delhi HC CJ D K Upadhyay, purportedly revealing burnt cash at Justice Yashwant Varma‘s house on March 14, appears to have clinched the case for a deeper probe against the sitting Delhi HC judge, who, despite the graphic evidence, had claimed to be innocent and alleged a frame-up.
CJI Khanna on Friday asked Delhi HC CJ to categorically seek Justice Varma’s response to three queries: 1) How does he (Justice Varma) account for the presence of money/cash in the room located on his premises; 2) Explain the source of money/cash that was found in the said room; and 3) Who is the person who had removed the burnt money/cash from the room in the morning of March 15, 2025?

CJ Upadhyay, in his report to the CJI, said Delhi Police chief Arora had shared video of the alleged fire incident and the discovery of cash in the residence of Justice Varma on March 14 night. He said that on being shown the video and asked about the source of the money and explanation about its presence in his official bungalow, Justice Varma expressed “some apprehension about conspiracy against him”. The Delhi CJ concluded by saying , ” I am of the prima facie opinion that the entire matter warrants a deeper probe.”
The CJI had also asked Delhi HC CJ to ascertain “details of the official staff of the HC Registry, the personal security officers and the security guards who were posted at the residence of Justice Varma during the last six months. Request letter may be sent to the mobile service provider(s) for providing call record details of the official or other mobile phone number(s) of Justice Yashwant Varma for the last six months”.
The CJI had also asked Justice Upadhyay to advise Justice Varma to “not dispose of his mobile phone(s) or delete or modify any conversation, messages or data from his mobile phone(s)”.
In response, Delhi HC CJ wrote: “The call details record has been received and is being forwarded in a pen drive along with this letter. As regards IPDR, the same shall be furnished to you as soon as it is received from the commissioner of police, Delhi/mobile service provider”
Maintaining that he was innocence, Justice Varma wrote: “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.”
On the video of the cash on his residential premises, Justice Varma said, “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 that prompted me to observe that this clearly appeared to be a conspiracy to frame and malign me. It also lends credence to my firm belief that the entire incident is part of a sequence of events, which occurred in the recent past, including the unfounded allegations that circulated on social media in Dec 2024.”
He added: “What baffles me is the complete absence of any sacks of allegedly burnt currency that were ever recovered or seized. We categorically assert that neither my daughter, PS nor household staff were shown these so-called sacks of burnt currency,” he said.