Cash disappearance: Justice Varma’s personal secretary, staff suspected

NEW DELHI: A high-level judicial panel, inquiring into the discovery of a huge amount of cash at the official residence of HC judge Yashwant Varma on March 14 night, in its report to CJI Sanjiv Khanna has suspected the judge’s personal staff for the mysterious disappearance of the cash.

The inquiry panel comprising Punjab and Haryana chief justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal Pradesh CJ G S Sandhawalia and Karnataka HC’s Justice Anu Sivaraman recorded the statements of the judge’s private secretary and staff, security personnel posted at his residence as well as fire and police personnel on the fire incident at the Tughlaq Crescent bungalow, the official residence of then Delhi HC judge Varma.

All personnel among the first responders were unequivocal that they made videos of burning cash as well as sacks of cash untouched by the leaping flames of the fire that broke out at the storeroom within the judge’s residential premises and left the place without seizing any of the cash, either burnt or unburnt.

Delhi HC Chief Justice D K Upadhyay, on being informed about the incident by the Delhi Police commissioner at 4.50pm on March 15, had instructed his registrar-cum-secretary to visit Justice Varma’s residence and inspect the place of fire. On reaching the residence, he was taken to Justice Varma by the latter’s private secretary.

Justice Varma took the CJ’s secretary to the room, which was adjacent to the judge’s official residence. He found that though burnt articles and debris were in the room, there was no sign of any cash, burnt or unburnt.

The inquiry panel recorded that the fire service was alerted by police, who got the first call about the incident at the judge’s residence at 11.35pm on March 14.

They reached the spot at 11.43pm, doused the fire and left the scene at 1.56am on March 15. The panel also found that shortly thereafter police personnel, who videographed the incident, also left the house, leaving behind the cash as it were in the room. Security personnel posted at the judge’s residence informed the panel that Justice Varma’s private secretary and personal staff stayed back. The panel said it is prima facie of the opinion that the cash disappeared from the room in the early hours of March 15 and that the fire scene was cleared of all burnt and unburnt notes, which could not have been done without the knowledge and involvement of the judge’s private secretary and personal staff.

However, the panel said it would require a formal investigation to summon witnesses and record their statements, which cannot be done by the informal inquiry panel as it had not been conferred with powers to probe as per the criminal procedure code. It is to be seen whether Delhi HC initiates any disciplinary proceedings against the judge’s private secretary based on the inquiry panel’s prima facie findings.

CJI Khanna had forwarded the inquiry report to Justice Varma seeking his response and with a suggestion that he should quit judgeship. Justice Varma refused to quit, forcing the CJI to send the inquiry report along with the judge’s response to the President and the PM for formal initiation of a removal motion against him.

Justice Varma was repatriated from Delhi HC to Allahabad HC, his parent high court, immediately after the constitution of the inquiry panel and has been stripped of judicial work.