The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to consider a plea to criminally prosecute Justice Yashwant Varma, the judge at the center of a row over the discovery of a huge stash of charred currencies in the storeroom of his Delhi bungalow. This was revealed after the fire brigade was called to a fire in the house on March 14.
A bench headed by Justice Abhay S. Oka informed advocate Mathews J. Nedumpara, the lead petitioner who appeared in court, that "There was an in-house inquiry report. It has been sent to the President of India and the Prime Minister of India for action. If you are looking for a writ of mandamus, you need to first make a representation to those authorities before whom the matter is pending."
The bench, which also comprised Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, again instructed, "You make a representation calling upon them (the President and the PM) to do something. If they fail to do so, then you can approach here."
The petitioners contended that if Justice Varma had accumulated wealth illegally, just impeachment would not be enough. The plea sought his criminal prosecution, highlighting the gravity of the issue.
It said, "What has occurred is a heinous crime against public justice. When it is done by a judge, the protector of justice who himself stands accused or culprit, then it is no common offence, the seriousness is much more, and hence should be the penalty.
[it] is necessary that criminal law is initiated, the case is investigated thoroughly, and above all, determine who were bribe givers/beneficiaries and what was the cause/judgment in which justice was bought."
The petition also pointed out that the huge amounts of money said to have been burnt, partly burnt, and secretly taken away were indubitably connected with bribes and corruption—crimes punishable under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) as well as the Prevention of Corruption Act. It raised a query over the lack of any official rationale for why no FIR was registered and why criminal prosecution was not undertaken, which should have involved seizure of currency and arrest of suspects.
The same bench of Judges Oka and Bhuyan had also rejected another petition by the same party in late March, where it had asked for a direction to the Delhi Police to file an FIR and conduct a proper investigation into the discovery of cash.
"The 'in-house' investigation is still on. If the report identifies something amiss, an FIR may be pressed, or the issue may be referred to the Parliament. Today is not the day to consider (the filing of FIR)," the bench had stated.
The petitioners also criticized the delay in the disclosure of electronic records, suggesting that it was an indication of efforts to hide the issue.
Following the reported discovery of the money, which rocked judicial circles, then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna had established a three-member committee to investigate the matter. In the course of the investigation, Justice Varma was transferred from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court, in response to a Supreme Court Collegium recommendation for his repatriation.
Earlier this month, the top court-appointed in-house panel report was filed by then CJI Khanna to the President and the Prime Minister. The Supreme Court made an announcement on May 8 stating, "Chief Justice of India, in accordance with the In-House Procedure, has addressed letters to Hon'ble the President of India and Hon'ble the Prime Minister of India enclosing therewith copy of the 3-Member Committee report dated 03.05.2025 along with the letter/response dated 06.05.2025 received from Mr Justice Yashwant Varma."
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