Justice Varma cash row: Police question staffers at Delhi HC judge's residence; SC declines urgent hearing on plea seeking FIR

A police team led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) on Wednesday (Mar 26) visited Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma's residence, where massive piles of cash were reportedly found after a fire.

There, the team, as per a PTI news agency report, questioned the staff and security personnel. This comes as the Supreme Court of India declined to give an out-of-turn hearing on a plea seeking orders for the Delhi police to register an FIR against the justice.

Police visit Justice Varma's house

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A police team, comprising six members, including DCP (New Delhi) Devesh Mahla, an ACP and other officials reached Justice Varma's residence around 1:50 pm on Wednesday.

The police team, accompanied by videographers, questioned staffers, security personnel and others who were present on the night of the fire to determine the sequence of events, reported PTI, citing sources. They also reviewed CCTV footage from cameras installed inside the residence.

The visit, which lasted two hours, was part of an in-house inquiry by the three-judge panel set up by the Chief Justice of India for a "deeper probe" into the allegations of corruption. Further questioning of fire personnel, is expected.

It comes after the discovery of "four to five semi-burnt sacks of Indian currency notes" in Varma's Lutyens home following a fire incident on March 14.

Earlier, on Tuesday, the team paid another visit to Varma's house and reportedly inspected the site where the cash was found.

FIR on Justice Varma

Also on Wednesday, a Supreme court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna refused urgent mentioning of a plea for Delhi police to lodge an FIR against Varma. Assuring petitioner advocate Mathews J Nedumpara, the bench said that the plea would be listed by the registry.

"The plea will come up accordingly," said the CJI when another petitioner in the case commented that if the case was against a common citizen, then probe agencies such as the CBI and ED would have gone against them.

Nedumpura, along with three others, moved the Supreme Court on March 23 seeking an FIR. They also challenged the 1991 K Veeraswami case judgement, in which the Indian top court ruled that no criminal proceedings could be initiated against a HC or SC judge without the prior permission from the Chief Justice of India.

(With inputs from agencies)