Delhi police question staff at Justice Varma's home in cash probe

A team led by the deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi) on Wednesday visited the residence of Delhi high court judge Yashwant Varma and questioned the staff and security personnel as part of an investigation into the alleged discovery of a cash pile at his residence here, official sources said.

The police team, comprising six members, including DCP (New Delhi) Devesh Mahla, an ACP and other officials, reached Justice Varma's residence at 30, Tughlaq Road bungalow at around 1.50 pm and left about two hours later.

The visit was part of an in-house inquiry by a three-judge panel constituted by the Chief Justice of India for a "deeper probe" into the discovery of "four to five semi-burnt sacks of Indian currency notes" in Varma's Lutyens home following a fire incident on March 14, according to the sources.

The in-house committee went to Varma's residence on Tuesday and is learnt to have inspected the site.

During the visit on Wednesday, the police questioned the staffers, security personnel and others who were present on the night of the fire to ascertain the sequence of events, sources said.

The sources said that the officials were accompanied by a videographer and they inspected the outhouse where the alleged cash stash was found.

The team also reviewed CCTV footage from cameras installed at the judge's residence and may question police and fire personnel who responded to the emergency call in the coming days, they said.

Justice Varma had said he was in Madhya Pradesh at the time of the incident. He

has denied the allegations, saying that no cash was ever placed in the storeroom by him or any of his family members.