Former Judge of the Delhi High Court (HC) Yashwant Varma has been found guilty by a parliamentary panel, which had been entrusted with probing the recovery of a large quantity of cash recovered from his official residence in New Delhi. The committee concluded that he failed to satisfactorily explain the presence, source or ownership of the money. 

The findings have been mentioned in a report presented in Parliament on Wednesday. The two-volume report includes oral and documentary evidence collected during the investigation. 

Cash was found after fire broke out at official residence

The controversy erupted after a fire broke out at Justice Varma’s official residence at 30, Tughlak Crescent, New Delhi, on the night of March 14, 2025. Firefighters who worked to douse off the flames allegedly discovered large quantities of burnt currency notes in a storeroom on the premises. 

The parliamentary committee said that ‘large quantities of unexplained Rs 500 currency notes’ were found inside the storeroom. According to the panel, Varma was unable to provide a cogent explanation for the presence of the cash or establish its source and ownership. 

The committee also questioned the manner in which the evidence was handled following the discovery. 

Panel flags lapses in evidence preservation

The report criticised the subsequent probe, saying material evidence had not been properly secured or preserved. It observed that the condition of the storeroom was disturbed before it could be lawfully sealed and inspected. 

The panel further said the subsequent ‘disappearance/non-visibility’ of the currency notes remained unexplained. 

As mentioned in the report, the failure to preserve evidence and the disturbance of the storeroom by staff attached to the premises contributed to the loss of material evidence. However, the committee clarified that it did not find evidence establishing Justice Varma personally removed the cash. 

Committee rejects Varma’s response

Furthermore, the committee said that Justice Varma’s explanation regarding the cash, including his written response dated March 22, 2025, was unsatisfactory. The report claimed his response lacked ‘candour, transparency and institutional responsibility.’ 

The findings emerge after an earlier in-house inquiry constituted by the former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna concluded that Varma had ‘active or tacit control’ over the storeroom where the cash was found.

After the controversy, Varma was repatriated from the Delhi HC to his parent court, the Allahabad HC.