New Delhi. On May 14, a committee of 3 judges submitted its investigation report to the then CJI Sanjeev Khanna in connection with the burning of cash due to fire in the store room of the house on the night of 14 March while being a judge of the Delhi High Court of Justice Yashwant Verma. Now the English newspaper The Hindustan Times has told in its news that what has been said in the report of the committee of judges. Also, this information has also come out that Justice Yashwant Verma has given arguments in his defense in the matter of burning cash?
The newspaper quoted sources as saying that on March 14, unidentified people had cleaned the place on March 15, the next day after the fire broke out in the store room of Justice Yashwant Verma’s residence. Justice Yashwant Verma has given a 105 -page statement in his defense. Delhi’s residence and outhouse plan is also included in it. According to the newspaper, Justice Verma has questioned the absence of CCTV footage and not having a forensic check of burnt goods. The Supreme Court released the video and photos on 22 March, showing a burnt cash in a room. Unauthorized information says that cash worth crores was there. The committee of Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court GS Sandhawalia and Karnataka High Court Justice Anu Shivraman said in the report that he should be held responsible for Justice Yashwant Verma’s government residence.
Delhi High Court Chief Justice DK Padhyay also wrote a letter to Justice Yashwant Verma on March 21, saying that the Delhi Police Commissioner quoted the security guard as saying that the burnt goods were removed from your residence on 15 March 2025. According to the newspaper, Justice Yashwant Verma has raised the question that which police officer sent the WhatsApp message to burn cash to Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora on March 16 after two days? Justice Yashwant Verma has also said in his defense that there is no CCTV footage. Whereas, the camera in which the cash burnt is installed. At the same time, the inquiry committee has said that the CCTV footage was investigated at the forensic science lab in Chandigarh, but they did not find any evidence. Justice Verma says that the CCTV footage has been kept in the hard drive guard room and does not control it. Whereas, the committee of judges has said that hard drives were seized on March 25, 10 days after the cash burning. The committee has expressed suspicion that CCTV footage can be tampered with.
Justice Yashwant Verma has also argued in defense that someone else may have kept cash in the outhouse. He has also expressed suspicion of conspiracy against himself. Justice Yashwant Verma has said that the outhouse was not locked and all the people used to go there. However, the judges’ inquiry committee found that where there is talk of burning cash, that room was usually locked. In his defense, Justice Verma has claimed that his 27 -year -old daughter was present at the residence at the time of the fire. He heard the sound of a loud explosion and was not investigated. At the same time, the judges’ inquiry committee said in its report that after the incident, Justice Yashwant Verma’s behavior was not found to be normal and it makes his mistake.
The investigation committee of 3 judges has said in the report that when Justice Yashwant Verma and his wife returned from Bhopal, he did not go to the room where the fire was on. Justice Yashwant Verma has said that he was more concerned about the service of his elderly mother. According to Justice Yashwant Verma, his mother was very upset with the fire incident. Because of this, he and his daughter kept awake for a long time. Justice Verma also said that he is suspected of setting fire from someone. At the same time, the committee of the judges also considered it a suspect that Justice Yashwant Verma accepted the order of Allahabad High Court transfer without any opposition. Whereas, Justice Yashwant Verma has said in defense that he wanted to meet the then CJI Sanjeev Khanna and argue about the allegations against himself, but on May 6, the CJI gave him an ultimatum to either resign from the post or face impeachment.
