Judge Cash Scandal: SC Claims Transfer Not Related To Incident, Lists Accolades of Justice Yashwant Varma

New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India, on Friday, clarified that the transfer of Justice Yashwant Varma to the Allahabad High Court was not related to the cash recovery incident, adding that misinformation and rumours were being spread regarding the events at his residence.

The Supreme Court's statement came after a major controversy erupted over the Collegium's decision to transfer Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court. The Collegium's action did not sit well with the other members of the judiciary including judges and lawyers, many of whom expected a stronger response against him.

In its statement, the Supreme Court explained that the proposal for transferring Justice Varma—currently the second senior-most Judge in the Delhi High Court and a Collegium member—back to his parent High Court, the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, where he will rank ninth in seniority, is independent of the ongoing in-house enquiry procedure.

The Court noted that the proposal was examined by the Collegium, comprising the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and the four senior-most Judges of the Supreme Court, on March 20, 2025. Following this, letters were sent to the consultee Judges of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justices of the High Courts concerned, and Justice Yashwant Varma. The responses will be reviewed, after which the Collegium will pass a resolution.

The Supreme Court further clarified that the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, who initiated the enquiry prior to the March 20 Collegium meeting, would be submitting his report to the Chief Justice of India today.

In its statement, the Supreme Court referred to the in-house enquiry procedure established in C. Ravichandran Iyer v. Justice A.M. Bhattacharjee (1995) 5 SCC 457, details of which are available on its website. This procedure was further elaborated on in Additional District and Sessions Judge 'X' v. Registrar General, High Court of Madhya Pradesh (2015) 4 SCC 91.

Upon receiving the information, the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court began the in-house enquiry procedure, gathering evidence and information. The Chief Justice, who commenced the process prior to the March 20, 2025, Collegium meeting, is scheduled to submit his report to the Chief Justice of India today (Friday, March 21, 2025). This report will be examined and processed for further necessary action.

Why Justice Yashwant Varma is under scanner?

Justice Yashwant Varma of the Delhi High Court, who has now been transferred to his parent Allahabad High Court, is under scrutiny after a huge cash pile was discovered at his residence in Delhi following a fire incident during the Holi weekend last week. Justice Varma and his wife were not present at home, as they were in Bhopal at the time. When the fire broke out, someone at the house alerted the fire service department, prompting firefighters to rush to the scene and extinguish the flames. It was during this operation that the cash pile was uncovered.

Following the initial inquiry, the Supreme Court-led Collegium transferred Justice Varma to his parent Allahabad High Court. However, the High Court objected to the Collegium's decision, stating that they were not a “trash bin.”

As the matter was further escalated by legal eagles, the Supreme Court issued a statement clarifying that Justice Varma's transfer was not related to the cash recovery incident.

What did the Delhi Fire Chief say about Justice Yashwant Varma’s case?

The Delhi fire department's report regarding the incident at Justice Varma’s residence on March 14, accessed by Republic Media Network, made no mention of the massive cash pile.

The department’s document stated that the fire was limited to “stationery and domestic articles” in a storeroom and noted that no casualties were reported.

The absence of any mention of the cash recovery in the department’s document has raised serious questions about a possible cover-up.