The Delhi High Court has ordered the Delhi Police to continue providing security to Justice Yashwant Varma, who was recently transferred to the Allahabad High Court following the recovery of semi-burnt sacks of Indian currency from his Delhi residence after a fire on March 14.
In a letter to Delhi Police sent on April 5, the Deputy Registrar (Project and Planning) S P Gupta wrote, “I am directed to inform you that Hon’ble Mr Justice Yashwant Varma, Judge of this court, consequent upon transfer/repatriation to Allahabad High Court is retaining the official bungalow…As desired by his Lordship the deployment of CRPF security staff be continued in his official bungalow till the bungalow is retained. You are, therefore, requested to do the needful on top priority basis under intimation to this court.”
When contacted, Gupta refused to comment on the issue.
A senior police officer at the Delhi Police headquarters told this newspaper that the request is under consideration. As per the ‘Yellow Book’ of the MHA, which contains guidelines regarding security arrangements for VIPs and VVIPs, security should be withdrawn a month after the transfer from the current post.
A fire at Justice Varma’s residence on March 14 sparked controversy after wads of burnt currency were allegedly found at his home and this was allegedly also captured on video by the first responders on site. On March 20, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended Justice Varma’s transfer from the Delhi High Court to his parent court in Allahabad. The Centre notified the transfer on March 28, days after a three-member judicial panel began its probe into the cash-at-home row.
A source said Justice Varma has Y-category security, provided by the Delhi Police. Three personnel security officers were provided by the Delhi Police, while the CRPF personnel were also stationed at his house.
The three-member committee of judges probing the discovery of cash at Justice Varma’s residence has recorded the statements of all the security personnel posted at his residence and following the directions of the panel, DCP (New Delhi district) Devesh Kumar Mahla had sealed the storeroom where the cash was discovered after the fire.
Narrating what transpired after the fire — which was reported by Justice Varma’s personal assistant (PA) at 11.30 pm on March 14 and put out by midnight — a source said, “Once the blaze was extinguished, the judge’s PA asked the five police personnel who had arrived at the spot to leave and return in the morning.”
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Justice Varma was away with his wife at the time of the blaze, which broke out in a storeroom attached to his residence. “At 8 am on March 15, the additional DCP (New Delhi district) presented the morning diary — a summary of key developments from the area over the last 24 hours — to his seniors. The morning diary included details of the fire. This was then conveyed to the police chief Arora, who was also shown videos captured after the blaze, who in turn reported the matter to his higher-ups at the Centre before alerting Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya about the development at around 4.50 pm,” the source said.
Justice Varma maintains no cash was shown to the staff at his residence. “When the fire broke out around midnight, the fire service was alerted by my daughter and my private secretary, whose calls would be duly recorded. During the exercise to douse the fire, all staff and the members of my household were asked to move away from the scene of the incident in view of safety concerns. After the fire was doused and when they went back to the scene of the incident, they saw no cash or currency on site,” he had said in a response to the Delhi High Court Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya
Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna subsequently had set up a three-member committee, comprising Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court Justice G S Sandhawalia, and Justice Anu Sivaraman of Karnataka High Court, to probe the matter
