The Supreme Court today(August 7) dismissed a writ petition seeking registration of FIR against Yashwant Varma, former judge of the Allahabad High Court, in the alleged unaccounted cash-at-home discovery during a fire incident.

A bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe dismissed the writ petition filed by advocate Ghanshyam Dayalu Upadhyay, calling it a publicity interest litigation. It noted that the Court had earlier rejected similar petitions.

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 (Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court), Justice GS Sandhawalia (then 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Justice Varma was repatriated to the Allahabad High Court, and judicial work was withdrawn from him pending the inquiry.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.

The present petition was earlier before a bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheel Nagu, but since Justice Nagu was a part of the in-house committee, the matter was kept before a different bench.