GUWAHATI: Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma has denied allegations of unaccounted cash being discovered at his residence, calling it a conspiracy to frame and malign him.
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In a reply to Delhi High Court Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya on Saturday, March 22, Justice Varma stated that the fire, which reportedly led to the alleged discovery, had broken out in an outhouse used as a general storeroom, not in his main residence. He dismissed claims that he or his family had stored cash there, calling such suggestions “preposterous.”
The judge also questioned the veracity of reports about cash recovery and seizure, highlighting that no one present at the site had been shown any such discovery. Referring to a video clip shared by the Commissioner of Police, he said, “Assuming without admitting that the video was taken at the time of the incident, none of it appears to have been recovered or seized.”
His response follows an in-house probe initiated by the Chief Justice of India after media reports claimed that unaccounted cash was discovered following a fire at his residence. The Supreme Court Collegium later decided to repatriate Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court, his parent High Court.
Alleging a conspiracy, Justice Varma referred to past social media allegations and an FIR registered against him and others by the CBI in 2018. He stated that the present incident appeared to be part of a series of events aimed at tarnishing his reputation. He also emphasised that neither he nor his family or staff saw any burnt cash when they inspected the room after the fire.
“In the life of a judge, nothing matters more than reputation and character,” he said. “That has been severely tarnished and irreparably damaged.” Calling for an inquiry into his judicial integrity, he asserted that no allegations had ever been raised against him in his decade-long career as a High Court judge.