How do I explain source of cash I didn’t know was there, asks Justice Varma

Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma, asked to explain the source of unaccounted cash allegedly recovered from a storeroom in the outhouse of his official bungalow during a fire on 14 March, has in his written reply made the following points in his defence:

1. He and his wife were travelling in Madhya Pradesh on 14 March, a holiday on account of Holi. They returned to Delhi the next evening when they were apprised of the fire

2. The same evening, he received a call from the chief justice (CJ) of Delhi High Court (after the CJ was informed by Delhi Police commissioner Sanjay Arora at 4.50 pm on 15 March when the CJ was in Lucknow) informing him that the fire was suspected to be a case of arson. The CJ requested for the Delhi HC registrar and secretary to the CJ to visit Justice Varma’s residence the same evening, to which the commissioner agreed

3. As per the registrar’s written report uploaded on the Supreme Court’s website, he visited 30, Tughlaq Crescent at 9.10 pm on 15 March and called the personal secretary to Justice Varma, who took him to the judge. All three then went to the storeroom and with the help of mobile phone torches, saw the walls burned by the fire and charred debris and articles lying on the ground

4. The registrar’s report does not mention whether the storeroom was locked at the time. While Justice Varma has claimed that the storeroom remained unlocked and was accessible to house help and the CPWD (Central Public Works Department), the police commissioner had claimed that the room next to the guardroom housing the CRPF remained locked. In any case, the registrar in his report does not mention seeing any burned cash in the room

5. The police commissioner, however, claims in his written communication dated 16 March that security guards had confirmed that debris and half-burnt articles were removed from the storeroom on the morning of 15 March

6. The CJ returned to Delhi on the evening of 16 March and called on the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjeev Khanna. He thereafter called Justice Varma and arranged to meet him the next morning. The meeting took place on 17 March in the Delhi HC guesthouse, where the CJ was staying for the time being

7. While Justice Varma reiterated that he had no clue about any cash and claimed the storeroom was accessible to all, the CJ showed him the video and photographs of cash burning which were forwarded to him by the police commissioner

8. Justice Varma expressed shock at the video and photographs and said there seemed to be ‘some sort of conspiracy’ to malign him

It was only on 20 March that the CJ forwarded the video, photographs and messages to the CJI. The same evening, he was intimated that there was a proposal to repatriate Justice Varma to Allahabad High Court, his parent court. The news broke in the Times of India the next day, 21 March, when the CJ sent his report to the CJI recording the sequence of events.

There is complete silence on what, if anything, happened on 18 and 19 March. However, in his report on 21 March, the CJ agreed with the proposal to repatriate Justice Varma ‘in the interest of administration of justice’.

The CJ also concluded his report by saying his enquiry had revealed that the storeroom could not be accessed by anyone other than the house help (the word used is 'servants'), gardeners and CPWD personnel. Hence, the incident needed a deeper probe, he concluded.

Justice Varma in his reply points out that the storeroom is separated from the living area by a wall, that it was next to the guardroom and quarters allotted to the staff, that the room was not locked and, more crucially, he or his family members and staff were never apprised or shown any cash, burnt or otherwise, recovered from the room.

Questions which need an answer, therefore, are the following: 

1. Why did Delhi Police commissioner Sanjay Arora wait until 4.50 pm on 15 March before informing the Delhi High Court CJ of the incident?

2. Why was cash — burnt or half-burnt — not reported or seized and why was the seizure list not prepared and signatures of inmates and eyewitnesses obtained?

3. Who recorded the video and took photographs, from which device? Have those devices been secured?

The delay and discrepancies require an investigation that would include the role of Delhi Police, Delhi Fire Service, and also allegations of a conspiracy that Justice Varma has hinted at. 

As a Supreme Court lawyer posted on Sunday, 23 March, “Justice Verma has been respected and admired by all at the Delhi High Court as a very amiable and competent judge. He has made out a case in his defence and that is that there is a conspiracy against him to attack his reputation… If there is indeed a conspiracy it is a serious matter and affects the independence of the judiciary as in the Gogoi case. Then the solution is not an in-house inquiry but a full blown criminal investigation into this conspiracy angle."