Atul Garg, the chief of Delhi Fire Services (DFS), denied reports attributing to him a statement claiming that no cash was found during firefighting operations at the residence of the Delhi High Court judge, Justice Yashwant Varma. According to news agency IANS, the clarification by Garg comes after some media outlets quoted him saying that the firefighters had not found any cash while dousing the flames at the judge’s official residence.
According to the report, Garg refuted the claim, stating that he never told any media outlets that the firefighters had reported that no cash was found at the scene. When asked why his name was being quoted in the reports, Garg replied, “I don’t know why,” adding that he had already sent a clarification to the media outlets carrying the statement.
According to IANS, quoting a fire department report, the fire was limited to domestic and stationery articles in a storeroom, and no casualties were involved.
Earlier, certain media outlets had reported that Garg stated, “firefighters found no cash during their operation to douse flames at the residence of Delhi High Court Justice Yashwant Varma.” The firefighting team had informed the police after extinguishing the fire on Thursday night.
The development comes as the Supreme Court Collegium launched an inquiry into the entire incident following the allegations of a large sum of cash being discovered at the residence of Justice Varma during the fire incident on Thursday night.
The Collegium is also said to have recommended his transfer to the Allahabad High Court.
In response to the speculation, the Supreme Court issued a clarification stating that Justice Varma’s transfer to the Allahabad High Court is not related to the alleged discovery of cash at his official residence. The court stressed that the transfer decision was made independently of the ongoing inquiry into the matter.
“There is misinformation and rumours being spread regarding the incident at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma,” the Supreme Court said in a press note, dismissing any connection between the transfer and the alleged cash recovery.
