In India's national capital, a fire at a Delhi High Court judge's house has uncovered a shocking secret — hidden massive piles of cash.

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The discovery, as per reports, happened a few days back on 14 March 2025 at the house of Delhi HC judge Yashwant Varma. 

It has triggered shockwaves within the judicial circles and has prompted India's Supreme Court collegium, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, to order Justice Varma's immediate transfer to the Allahabad High Court on Thursday (March 20).

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What happened?

As per reports, Justice Yashwant Varma was out of town when a fire broke out as his residence, prompting his family to call the fire brigade and the police. 

Once the fire brigade extinguished the fire, they discovered a large sum of cash piled inside one of the rooms. The money was recovered by the local police and the case was escalated to senior officials. Eventually, high ranking officials in the government were alerted. 

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Collegium orders from Delhi HC judge's transfer

CJI Sanjiv Khanna convened an urgent collegium meeting to discuss the discovery and subsequently the decision to transfer Varma from Delhi HC was taken, pending investigation.

The collegium unanimously decided to move Justice Varma back to his parent High Court in Allahabad. Varma previously served in the Allahabad HC before being appointed to the Delhi HC in October 2021.

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As per a Times of India report, some members of the collegium raised concerns that merely transferring the judge was not sufficient in a case of this magnitude.

The Supreme Court of India's procedure to deal with allegations of corruption or misconduct involves the CJI seeking an explanation from the judge. If dissatisfied, the CJI can constitute a probe panel with a Supreme Court judge and two High Court Chief Justices to conduct a deeper investigation.

(With inputs from agencies)