‘Cash at judge’s house’: SC dispels 'misinformation and rumours' about Delhi HC Justice Yashwant Varma’s transfer

Amid reports about the transfer of Justice Yashwant Varma of the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court following alleged recovery of unaccounted cash at his residence during a fire incident, the Supreme Court on Friday sought to dispel “misinformation and rumours”, saying the transfer proposal was still under consideration.

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In a statement, the top court clarified that the proposal to transfer Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court was not linked to the in-house enquiry initiated by the Delhi High Court Chief Justice.

“The proposal for transfer of Mr. Justice Yashwant Varma, who is the second senior most Judge in the Delhi High Court and a member of the Collegium, to his parent High Court i.e. the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, where he will be ninth in seniority, is independent and separate from the In-house enquiry procedure,” the statement read.

“The proposal was examined by the Collegium comprising of the Chief Justice of India and four senior-most Judges of the Supreme Court on 20^th March 2025, and thereafter letters were written to the consultee Judges of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justices of the high courts concerned and Mr. Justice Yashwant Varma. Responses received will be examined and, thereupon, the Collegium will pass a resolution,” it said, adding, “There is misinformation and rumours being spread with regard to the incident at the residence of Mr. Justice Yashwant Varma.”

The top court statement clarified that on receiving the information, the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court commenced the in-house enquiry procedure collecting evidence and information.

“The Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, who had commenced his enquiry prior to the Collegium meeting on 20^th March 2025, will be submitting his report to the Chief Justice of India today i.e. on 21^st March 2025. The report will be examined and processed for further and necessary action.”

In a fresh twist to the controversy, Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg said firefighters found no cash during their operation to put out the fire at Justice Varma’s residence.

The fire broke out on March 14 at 11.35 pm at the judge’s residence in a store room stocked with stationery and domestic articles and two fire tenders reached the spot at 11.43 pm and doused the fire in 15 minutes.