Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma has denied all allegations regarding a pile of cash burnt at his residence. This comes after a video of a large sum of cash being burnt went viral on social media in relation to the cash row inquiry case.
As per reports, in a letter to Delhi High Court's Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, Justice Varma denied the allegations and called the claims "baseless" and "preposterous."
"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. The very idea or suggestion that this cash was kept or stored by us is totally preposterous," he wrote.
The Delhi HC judge further stated that the allegations against him have "severely damaged his reputation."
"In the life of a judge, nothing matters more than reputation and character. That has been severely tarnished and irreparably damaged," he stated.
Delhi Fire Chief Says No Cash Found At Scene
Firefighters from the Delhi Fire Services have stated that no cash was found during their operation to douse flames at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma.
"Soon after dousing the flames, we informed police about the fire incident. Thereafter, a team of fire department personnel left the spot. Our firefighters did not find any cash during their firefighting operation," DFS chief Atul Garg told news agency PTI.
On March 14, a fire broke out at Justice Varma's residence. As per Garg, the control room received a call about a blaze at Varma's Lutyens Delhi residence at 11.35 pm on March 14 and two fire tenders were immediately rushed to the spot.
The Justice shared that the storeroom was typically used to store items such as unused furniture, bottles, crockery, mattresses, old carpets, speakers, garden tools, and CPWD materials.
"This room is unlocked and accessible both from the official front gate as well as the backdoor of the staff quarters. It is disconnected from the main residence and is surely not a room in my house as has been portrayed and suggested in the article which appeared in the Times of India and certain other news reports,” he added in his letter.
What Is The Case?
A massive cache of cash was reportedly found at the Delhi HC judge's residency in Lutyens Delhi on March 14, the night of Holi.
Videos of a large sum of cash being burnt on the spot also went viral on social media, alleging that the videos were from Justice Varma's house.
Following the incident, the Supreme Court has constituted a three-member inquiry committee to investigate the allegations.
This panel, formed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv includes Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice G S Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, and Justice Anu Sivaraman of the Karnataka High Court.
