In the line of fire: A timeline of the Justice Yashwant Varma controversy

A video depicting remnants of currency notes allegedly found while dousing the fire at the residence of Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma has forced the entire Indian judiciary to come under the public scanner..Within days, in an unprecedented move, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna made public the preliminary inquiry report submitted by Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Varma's written response to the allegations.With these rapid developments, conspiracy theories and lingering questions are abound on social media. But first, the facts. The following is a chronological summary of all events leading up to the calls for impeachment of the Delhi High Court judge..Justice Yashwant Varma controversy: The unanswered questions.March 14Fire breaks out at 11:30 PM in a store room within the premises of the official residence allotted to Justice Varma. The judge, who was in Bhopal at the time, is informed of the fire by his daughter, who was present at the residence along with his aged mother. The daughter calls the police control room. No separate call was made to the fire department. .March 15Delhi Commissioner of Police Sanjay Arora contacts Delhi High Court Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya at 4:50 PM. Justice Upadhyaya, who was in Lucknow at the time during the Holi vacation, is informed about the fire. The same evening, Justice Upadhyaya calls CJI Khanna and upon the latter's instructions, asks the Commissioner of Police to furnish further information regarding the incident. .March 16Commissioner of Police submits the following information to Chief Justice Upadhyaya:The call to the police control room was made by Justice Varma's Personal Secretary, who was informed about the fire by a worker placed at the residence;The storeroom where the fire broke out is adjacent to the guard room, where Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel are posted;The storeroom used to be kept locked; andSome debris and half-burt items were removed from the location the morning after the fire was doused. Justice Upadhyaya directs his Registrar-cum-Secretary to visit the spot. The latter, along with Justice Varma, visit the storeroom and confirm that it was completely burnt, with soot and some debris hanging off the roof. Notably, the Registrar-cum-Secretary makes no mention of any currency, burnt or otherwise, being found in the storeroom. Justice Upadhyaya flies back to Delhi in the evening and meets with CJI Khanna to appraise him of all the developments. The CJI asks Justice Upadhyaya to meet with Justice Varma..March 17Justice Upadhyaya and Justice Varma meet at 8:30 AM at the Delhi High Court Guest House. Justice Verma informs Justice Khanna that the storeroom was filled with unusable household articles along like old mattresses and furniture. He also says that the room was accessible to staff and Central Public Works Department (CPWD) personnel. .March 20Justice Upadhyaya sends photographs, videos and other material of the incident to CJI Khanna. CJI Khanna informs him that there is a proposal to transfer Justice Varma back to his parent High Court, the Allahabad High Court. Justice Upadhyaya indicates his agreement with the proposal..March 21The news of the fire and the alleged recovery of currency notes is reported by Times of India. A full court meeting of all Supreme Court judges is held in the morning. An in-house inquiry against Justice Varma is initiated and a report is sought from the Delhi High Court Chief Justice. The five senior-most judges of the Supreme Court commence sitting 45 minutes late, suggesting that there was a separate meeting of the Supreme Court Collegium. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh brings up the issue in the Rajya Sabha and requests Chairman and Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankar to give necessary directions to the government to come up with measures to increase judicial accountability. Over fifty other parliamentarians remark on the the questions thrown up by the incident..Justice Upadhyaya writes to CJI Khanna regarding the inquiry he had conducted until then. In his letter, the Delhi High Court Chief Justice states that all information indicates that the storeroom was inaccessible to anyone but residents, staff and security personnel."Accordingly, I am of the prima facie opinion that the entire matter warrants a deeper probe," Justice Upadhyaya's letter states.Amid these developments, Justice Varma goes on leave for the day. The Allahabad High Court Bar Association issues a press release taking strong objection to the Supreme Court Collegium's recommendation to repatriate Justice Varma to Allahabad. "Allahabad High Court kude ka dibba nahi hai jo yahan bhej diya gaya hai (Allahabad High Court is not a trash bin that he has been sent here), the Bar Association President Anil Tiwari tells Bar & Bench. The Supreme Court issues a press release denying claims that the Collegium has recommended Justice Varma's transfer to the Allahabad High Court. It states that the Collegium is yet to make any official recommendation to transfer him; rather, the proposal is still under consideration. The Court also says that the transfer proposal is independent of the in-house inquiry initiated by the Court against Justice Varma over the allegations of cash recovery from his house..March 22CJI Khanna constitutes a three-member committee to probe the allegations. The committee comprises Justice Sheel Nagu (Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court), Justice GS Sandhawalia (Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal) Pradesh and Justice Anu Sivaraman (Judge of the Karnataka High Court)..CJI Khanna also asks Justice Upadhyaya not to assign any judicial work to Justice Varma. The Delhi High Court Chief Justice writes to the Delhi Commissioner of Police to get all Call Detail Records and Internet Protocol Detail Records of Justice Varma's mobile phone for the last six months - from September 1, 2024 till date. He also seeks details of all the personal security officers and the security guards posted at Justice Varma's residence in the last six months. Supreme Court publishes the preliminary probe report submitted by Justice Upadhyaya, including links to the videos circulating online and Justice Varma's response. In his written response, Justice Varma denies all allegations and claims that the accusations of cash discovery at his residence seem to be part of of a sequence of events in the recent past to frame and malign him. Five of the main points Justice Varma made are as follows:Nobody was shown the burnt cash that was allegedly recovered or seized;Site of fire and alleged cash recovery is an outhouse, which was generally unlocked;Report of the Registrar-cum-Secretary of the Delhi High Court CJ also does not mention any burnt cash; andSocial media posts of December 2024 about a 2018 FIR against Justice Varma and others hint at conspiracy.Justice Varma also seeks an inquiry into his functioning as a judge so that he can come clean."I would be grateful if an enquiry is made with respect to my functioning as a judge and what is the perception of the legal fraternity with regard to my integrity and honesty in the discharge of my judicial functioning," the reply requested..Five things Justice Yashwant Varma has said in his defence.March 24A notice officially withdrawing judicial work from Justice Varma is issued by the Registrar of the Delhi High Court. The Allahabad High Court Bar Association passes a resolution seeking impeachment of Justice Varma. They also abstain from judicial work in the afternoon to protest the proposed transfer. Supreme Court Collegium publishes resolution recommending repatriation of Justice Varma to Allahabad High Court. The resolution states that the decision was taken in two meetings - one held on March 20 and another on March 24. Allahabad High Court Bar Association then decides to go on indefinite strike from March 25, Tuesday. .Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.