NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking the registration of a First Information Report and a court-monitored Special Investigation Team probe into the alleged discovery of half-burnt currency notes at the residence of former Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Varma. A division bench comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe rejected the plea filed by advocate Ghanshyam Upadhyay, observing that the application constituted a misuse of the judicial process aimed at securing cheap publicity.
The petitioner argued that resigning from judicial office does not eliminate criminal liability concerning unaccounted funds, adding that he had formally lodged a complaint following the dismissal of a previous technical petition. The top court noted that a similar petition had already been dismissed earlier and declined to entertain the fresh request. Upadhyay maintained that high court judges qualify as public servants under the law and argued that the former judge no longer holds constitutional immunity following his resignation.
The controversy originated from a fire that occurred in March 2025 at the judge’s official Delhi residence, during which emergency responders allegedly discovered wads of burnt currency notes. Facing removal proceedings initiated by a Lok Sabha-appointed committee under the Judges Inquiry Act, 1968, Justice Varma submitted his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu on April 9. The former judge had denied ownership of the funds, stating that the fire occurred in a storeroom while he was away on vacation and alleging that the subsequent inquiry lacked procedural fairness.
