NEW DELHI, Aug 7: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a petition seeking registration of an FIR and a court-monitored investigation into the alleged recovery of a huge stash of cash from the residence of former Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Varma following a fire incident last year.
A bench comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe dismissed the plea filed by advocate Ghanshyam Upadhyay, observing that the court was not inclined to entertain the matter.
During the hearing, Upadhyay argued that Justice Varma’s resignation from office did not absolve him of alleged criminal liability over the purported recovery of unaccounted cash. He submitted that the former judge, now retired, enjoyed no immunity from prosecution.
The bench, however, noted that a similar petition had earlier been dismissed.
When the petitioner contended that the present plea was different because a formal complaint had since been filed, Justice Narasimha remarked, “You are an advocate. This is just a misuse of the judicial process. All for cheap publicity. We are not inclined to entertain this.”
The court subsequently dismissed the petition.
Justice Yashwant Varma resigned on April 9, while facing impeachment proceedings initiated over allegations of corruption after burnt currency notes were allegedly recovered from his official residence in Delhi following a fire on March 14, 2025.
His resignation, submitted to President Droupadi Murmu, rendered the removal proceedings initiated in the Lok Sabha infructuous. Justice Varma also withdrew from the inquiry being conducted by a Lok Sabha-appointed panel. He was due to retire on January 5, 2031.
The controversy arose after a fire broke out at Justice Varma’s official residence in Lutyens’ Delhi on the night of Holi in March 2025, during which fire personnel reportedly discovered a large quantity of burnt currency notes while extinguishing the blaze.
