Justice Amit Bansal dismissed the petition filed by advocate Ghanshyam Dayalu Upadhyay, calling it a “wild witch hunt.”

“I'm not entertaining this. This is a wild witch hunt. You have nothing better to do?” the Court remarked.

The respondent authorities questioned the locus of Upadhyay in filing of the petition. They also argued that Upadhyay has alternative remedies.

Accordingly, Upadhyay sought permission to withdraw the petition with liberty to avail alternative remedies. The plea was ultimately rejected.

For context, Supreme Court on August 07 dismissed a similar plea filed by Upadhyay.

Upadhyay, in his plea, said that the matter raised an issue beyond mere non-registration of an FIR which is whether the ordinary criminal law can become inoperative merely because the person concerned occupied a high constitutional office.

“The petition neither scandalises the judiciary nor seeks any prejudgment of guilt. Judicial independence and accountability are constitutional allies; while independence protects judicial functions, it cannot confer immunity from investigation of acts which, if committed by any other public servant, would attract the ordinary criminal law,” the plea said.

Upadhyay said that he was not seeking a declaration of guilt against Justice Varma, but was seeking something “anterior and constitutionally indispensable” i.e. an independent investigation to discover the truth.

Upadhyay sought an FIR against Justice Varma, stating that since the judge retired in April this year, he no longer has immunity against arrest under the Judges (Protection) Act, 1985.

The issue relates to the accidental discovery of a huge pile of currency notes at an outhouse of the official residence of Justice Varma, then a judge of the Delhi High Court, during a firefighting operation on March 14, 2025.

After the discovery led to a huge public controversy, the then CJI Sanjiv Khanna constituted an in-house inquiry committee of three judges- Justice Sheel Nagu (then Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court), Justice GS Sandhawalia ( Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court), and Justice Anu Sivaraman (Judge, Karnataka High Court).

Justice Varma was repatriated to the Allahabad High Court, and judicial work was withdrawn from him pending the inquiry. The committee submitted its report, prima facie finding Justice Varma's culpability, to then CJI Khanna in May, which the CJI forwarded to the President and the Prime Minister for further action, after Justice Varma refused to heed the CJI's advice to resign.

The Supreme Court, in a move towards public transparency, uploaded the reports and documents related to the fire incident, including the photos and videos showing burning cash. Last year, the Supreme Court dismissed Justice Varma's petition challenging the in-house inquiry as well as the CJI's recommendation to remove him. Justice Varma then filed another petition, challenging the Lok Sabha Speaker's decision to constitute the inquiry committee. That petition was also dismissed by the Court early this year.

Subsequently, he faced inquiry proceedings in the Lok Sabha over the allegations, after which he submitted his resignation to the President of India. The resignation happened while the inquiry ordered by the Lok Sabha Committee in the motion to remove him was underway. Last year, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla constituted a three-member committee under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, for an inquiry against Justice Varma over the alleged discovery of unaccounted cash currencies at his official residence.

Title: Ghanshyam D. Uphadhyay v. Union of India & Ors.