CJI writes to President Murmu, PM Modi on cash found at Justice Verma's house

NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna on Thursday wrote to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a cash discovery case linked to Justice Yashwant Verma.After the in-house procedure, the CJI sent correspondence that included a copy of the 3-Member Committee report dated May 3, 2025, along with the letter/response received from Justice Yashwant Varma on May 6. A stash of cash was allegedly recovered from the official premises of Justice Yashwant Varma, while he was serving as a Judge of the Delhi high court.The three-judge inquiry panel's damning report to CJI Khanna confirmed that a huge amount of cash was found in a storeroom at Justice Yashwant Varma's Tughlaq Crescent residence on March 14, a finding that negates the judge's strenuous claim to the contrary. The report repudiates Justice Varma's repeated statements claiming innocence about the discovery of money from a room within his official residence.Adhering to the principle of natural justice, CJI sent the report to the judge & sought his response within two days. The CJI, who retires on May 13, appears firm on taking the issue to its logical end. In its lengthy report, the panel comprising Punjab and Haryana chief justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal Pradesh chief justice GS Sandhawalia and Karnataka high court's Justice Anu Sivaraman unequivocally said a huge stash of cash was indeed found in a room on the premises of the judge's residence by the first responders to a fire incident there. The panel, which examined 50 witnesses, including Delhi Police commissioner, Delhi Fire Services chief and staff as well as securitymen deployed at his house, said most witnesses present at the site on March 14 confirmed that a portion of the cash stashed in the room had caught fire when Justice Varma was in Bhopal.