Informist, Friday, Jul. 18, 2025

NEW DELHI – Allahabad High Court Justice Yashwant Varma has moved the Supreme Court against an in-house committee report that indicted him after a pile of cash was found at his residence during a fire in March. He has also challenged former chief justice of India Sanjiv Khanna's recommendation to President Droupadi Murmu to initiate impeachment proceedings against him.

Justice Varma's plea comes days before the monsoon session of Parliament is set to commence on Jul. 21. The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha are expected to take up an impeachment motion against Justice Varma during the session.

The three-member committee formed by the Supreme Court has said that the half-burnt currency notes found in the storeroom of Justice Varma's house could not have been there without the active consent of the judge and his family. It was impossible for the currency to be planted in the storeroom of his residence, which was monitored by the security, it said.

The committee said that while there might be no direct proof linking the high court judge to the stash, "strong inferential evidence" suggested his "covert or active control" over the money, which belied the trust reposed in him. This amounted to serious judicial misconduct, meriting initiation of impeachment proceedings, the panel said.

In his plea, Justice Varma contested the in-house procedure on inquiry into complaints against judges, saying that it creates a parallel, extra-constitutional mechanism that derogates from the law, exclusively vesting the power for removal of high court judges in the Parliament. Varma argued that the in-house procedure does not have the safeguards as provided under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968.

The in-house inquiry committee made the findings without giving him a fair opportunity to respond, said Justice Varma. The committee proceeded in a pre-determined fashion and even without finding any concrete evidence, merely drew adverse inferences against him after reversing the burden of proof, he added. Further, Justice Varma has alleged that unprecedented public disclosure of the allegations against him through a press release by the apex court had subjected him to a media trial.

In May, the three-member committee formed by the Supreme Court had submitted its report to then chief justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, following its enquiry into allegations that a huge pile of cash was found at Justice Varma's residence after a fire broke out at his place in March.

Before the top court had formed the three-member committee, Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya had initiated an in-house enquiry against Justice Varma, who was serving as the Delhi High Court's judge in March. According to his report, half-burnt currency notes were found in sacks in the room where the fire had started. The Supreme Court later uploaded photographs and videos of the burnt cash on its website.

According to Justice Upadhyaya's report, the enquiry found no evidence suggesting that anyone other than the residents of the bungalow, the servants, gardeners, and possibly Central Public Works Department personnel had access to the room. Based on this, Justice Upadhyaya concluded that, prima facie, the matter required a more thorough investigation. After receiving the report, then chief justice Khanna directed Justice Varma to explain the presence of the cash in the room, its source, and who had removed it. In his response, Justice Varma said that after the fire was extinguished and he returned to the scene, he found no cash or currency at the location. He denied placing cash in the storeroom either personally or by any of his family members, and strongly rejected the suggestion that the cash in question belonged to him.

Thereafter, the top court's collegium transferred Justice Varma from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court. Further, the then chief justice asked Allahabad High Court's Chief Justice Arun Bhansali not to assign any judicial work to Justice Varma, when he assumed charge as a judge of that court. End

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Nishant Maher

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