The irony surrounding Justice Yashwant Varma’s situation couldn’t be more striking. Once a vocal advocate for India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), calling it a "revolution" that empowered the nation and transformed financial transactions, his name is now entangled in a scandal that represents the very thing UPI aimed to eliminate — cash hoarding and black money.
Back in 2023, speaking at the Indian Science Competition hosted by Anand and Anand law firm, Justice Varma passionately praised UPI as a game-changer, acknowledging how technology had reshaped the way people work, communicate, and manage finances. He described UPI as a pivotal step in reducing the country’s reliance on cash, promoting transparency, and encouraging white-money transactions — a sentiment strongly echoed by the government, which introduced the platform with these very goals in mind.
The data supports his sentiment. Digital payments in India surged to an astonishing 18,737 crore transactions in the financial year 2023-24, a dramatic rise from 2,071 crore in 2017-18 — reflecting a remarkable compound annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 44%. The value of these transactions also soared to ₹3,659 lakh crore in 2023-24, compared to ₹1,962 lakh crore in 2017-18, marking a steady CAGR of 11%. For millions of Indians, UPI became an indispensable part of daily life, especially for small, everyday transactions — from buying groceries to paying utility bills — symbolizing a powerful shift towards a more transparent, accountable, and cashless economy.
Yet, the discovery of massive stacks of cash hidden in nearly every room of Justice Varma's residence after a fire stands in painful contradiction to his earlier praise for digital payments. The sight of firefighters extinguishing flames only to uncover bundles of currency buried within the walls and furniture has captured the public’s imagination, highlighting an unsettling irony.
This scandal has cast a long, dark shadow over Justice Varma’s previously unblemished 22-year judicial career, during which he delivered several significant and widely respected rulings. Known for his keen legal acumen and upright reputation, his fall from grace has been swift and brutal. In the aftermath, the Supreme Court Collegium, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, decided to transfer him back to the Allahabad High Court — where he had served until October 2021 — in what was described as an administrative decision. The SC maintained that the transfer was not connected to the cash recovery, though public perception tells a different story. Additionally, the Supreme Court has sought a detailed report from the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court regarding the incident and the circumstances leading to the discovery.
The whole saga serves as a sobering reminder that while technology can indeed revolutionize systems, streamline processes, and empower millions, human behavior remains far more difficult to control and predict. The sight of heaps of currency uncovered from the ashes stands in stark contrast to the digital revolution Justice Varma once so proudly applauded. His words about UPI — once powerful and inspirational — now echo with a sense of tragic irony, proving that even the most well-intentioned reforms are powerless when met with the enduring allure of unaccounted wealth.
