The Delhi High Court's Chief Justice sends the police a question, and the judge is instructed not to throw away his phones or remove or modify any data, messages, or conversations on them while the investigation is underway.
The Supreme Court's release of visual aids and documents pertaining to the investigation into the March 14, 2025 fire and purported discovery of "sacks" of partially burned currency notes from a storeroom on the home of Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma is a step in the right direction, even though the records raise additional issues that the three-member committee appointed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna to look into the matter may consider.
According to publicly available documents, the fire started at approximately 11.30 p.m. the night before, and the Police Commissioner didn't contact Delhi High Court Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya until approximately 4.50 p.m. on March 15, 2025. Chief Justice Upadhyaya acted quickly after learning about the situation.
The morning following the incident, a security officer at Justice Varma's home observed "half-burnt articles" and debris being removed, according to the Delhi Police Commissioner's report to Chief Justice Upadhyaya. In the gutted room, four to five sacks of partially burned cash notes were discovered, according to a separate Hindi-language correspondence. A second, similar message cited the security guard's purported observations.
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Identity missing
However, the name of the person or people who took the articles out of the room on the morning of March 15 is not disclosed in the available documents, which contain censored passages whose disclosure would compromise confidentiality or fairness. The identities of the people who took the images and videos of the remnants of what might have been banknotes are not disclosed. They don't say if the cops had secured the room right away, which might have made it impossible to enter after the fire and the dousing operation.In his statement, Justice Varma stated that he was unaware of any cash in the chamber. Only on March 15 did he and his spouse return from Bhopal, where they had been when the fire broke out. He said that no "sacks of burnt currency" were displayed or given to his family members.
"The implication, if made, that we removed currency," he has vehemently denied. We are not aware of the purported removal. No articles, money, or cash of any kind were taken out by any of my employees.
Lastly, the Delhi Chief Justice's released report makes no mention of the location of the remaining burning cash notes or whether they were confiscated. Additionally, the article makes no indication of whether CCTV footage was found or whether an inquiry into the cause of the incident is now underway.
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