After a day-long turns and twists on the media report of huge pile of cash found in the Delhi High Court Judge Justice Yashwant Varma’s home by the fire brigade, the Supreme Court on Friday said misinformation and rumours were being spread over the incident. The top court which initiated an in-house inquiry on the matter said it is waiting for the report from Delhi High Court Chief Justice. Meanwhile Fire Services Chief Atul Garg said there was no cash found from Justice Varma’s residence.

As the controversies broke out, by afternoon, Justice Varma took leave from work. The Supreme Court in a statement in the evening said the proposal for Justice Varma’s transfer to Allahabad High Court was independent and separate from in-house enquiry procedure. The top court said upon receiving information, the Delhi High Court Chief Justice commenced an in-house enquiry procedure collecting evidence and information.

The High Court Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya, who had commenced enquiry prior to March 20 collegium meeting, would submit a report to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna today itself, said the top court. Following its examination, the court would proceed for “further and necessary” action, added the statement from Supreme Court.

Fire fighters found no cash during their operation to douse flames at the residence of Justice Varma, Delhi Fire Services Chief Atul Garg said. The control room received a call about a blaze at Varma’s Lutyens Delhi residence at 11.35 pm on March 14 and two fire tenders were immediately rushed to the spot, Garg told media. Fire tenders reached the spot at 11.43 pm. The fire was in a store room stocked with stationery and domestic articles, Garg said, adding that it took 15 minutes to control the flames. There were no casualties.

“Soon after dousing the flames, we informed Police about the fire incident. Thereafter, a team of fire department personnel left the spot. Our fire fighters did not find any cash during their fire fighting operation,” the DFS chief said.

The Allahabad High Court Bar Association opposed the transfer Justice Varma and said they may go for an indefinite strike against making the Allahabad HC as “trashbin.” In a resolution passed soon after the news of the judge’s transfer by a Supreme Court collegium was reported, the association said, “We were taken aback that the Supreme Court has transferred Justice Yashwant Varma back to Allahabad High Court...”

The resolution, naming association president and senior advocate Anil Tiwari as the signatory, claims that the discovery of the “unaccounted money” from the judge’s house was of “`15 Crore”. “Supreme Court has taken cognisance on the matter immediately and unanimously decide repatriate Justice Yashwant Varma to Allahabad High Court,” it said. The statement added, “The decision of the collegium raises a serious question as to whether the Allahabad high Court is a trash bin?”

The matter was raised in the Rajya Sabha and Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar saying he will find a mechanism for holding a structured discussion on the issue. Raising the issue in the morning session, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh also sought the Chair’s response on judicial accountability and reminded him about a pending notice regarding impeachment of a judge of the Allahabad High Court. “This morning, we have read about a shocking case of huge amounts of cash unearthed at the residence of a judge of the Delhi High Court,” Ramesh said.

He also pointed out that earlier, 50 members of Parliament had submitted a notice to the chairman regarding certain remarks that were made by a judge ofthe Allahabad High Court. Ramesh said the Chairman himself has repeatedly spoken about the urgency for judicial accountability. The senior Congress member also sought to remind Dhankhar that he had directed the Leader of the House on this issue.