NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court dismissed a petition on Friday requesting an FIR against Delhi high court judge Justice Yashwant Verma regarding substantial cash pile discovered at his residence following a fire incident.
The Supreme Court stated that the PIL was premature, citing an ongoing internal investigation.
“Can’t interfere at this stage,” the Supreme Court said.
“If in-house inquiry finds him guilty, CJI would have the option of directing registration of FIR or recommend his removal to government,” the top court said.
The incident took place on March 14 after piles of cash were discovered after a fire erupted at Varma’s Lutyens Delhi residence.
Emergency responders, including police and fire services, arrived to control the blaze and reportedly discovered significant cash holdings in one of the property’s outhouses. Senior officials were notified, who subsequently informed the Chief Justice of India on March 15. The CJI then directed the Delhi high court Chief Justice to provide a report on the incident, including Justice Varma’s explanation regarding the alleged cash discovery.
Also read: Judge probe: Lens on role of cops, first responders
Meanwhile, Justice Varma contested the allegations, declaring them unfounded.
In a detailed letter to Delhi high court’s Chief Justice, Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, Justice Varma described the allegations as “baseless” and “preposterous”, firmly denying any association between himself or his family with the reported cash. “I state unequivocally that no cash was ever placed in that storeroom either by me or any of my family members and strongly denounce the suggestion that the alleged cash belonged to us,” he wrote.