A judges’ committee has held Justice Yashwant Varma responsible for serious misconduct after burnt cash was discovered in his Delhi home post-fire. The report could lead to his impeachment in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament.
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NEW DELHI: A high-level committee of three judges has found Justice Yashwant Varma prima facie responsible for misconduct after burnt cash was discovered at his official home in Delhi during a fire on March 14.
The serious allegations and the committee’s report may now lead to impeachment proceedings against him during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
This three-member panel consisted of top judges: Justice Sheel Nagu (Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court), Justice G S Sandhawalia (Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court), and Justice Anu Sivaraman (Judge, Karnataka High Court).
They prepared a detailed 64-page report (attached at the end) on the incident.
The panel said that when a judge is given a government house, he is expected to take full responsibility for anything suspicious found there.
According to the report:
“It carries with it the responsibility upon the occupant to keep the premises free of items or material which may give rise to suspicion in the eyes of the common man.”
The committee clearly held Justice Varma accountable, saying there was enough indirect responsibility for misconduct based on what was discovered in the house after the fire.
“Multiple witnesses confirmed seeing burnt Rs 500 notes, but the judge never reported the incident.”
-Report
The report was officially submitted on May 4 to the then Chief Justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna. He then sent it to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The government is now starting the process to bring an impeachment motion against Justice Varma in Parliament.
“… this committee holds the money/cash was found in the storeroom located within the premises of 30 Tughlaq Crescent… officially occupied by Justice Varma”
-Page 60
“… access to the storeroom was with Justice Varma and his family members, and (was) well-monitored without any outsiders getting access without permission”
-Page 59
The judges found half-burnt currency notes in the house, which raised serious red flags.
They stated:
“The half-burnt currency notes seen and found during the process of dousing of fire are highly suspicious items and more so are not of small amount or denomination which could not have been placed in the store room without the tacit or active consent of Justice Varma or his family members.”
They also rejected the idea that someone could have planted the cash in such a tightly secured place:
“Therefore, it is well nigh impossible for currency to be planted in the store room of a sitting Judge, which is being monitored by static 1+4 guard and a PSO stationed at the gate at all time, apart from the fact that the house abounds with a large number of old and trusted domestic servants with over six staff quarters.”
While there were mistakes made by the police, the panel said it was outside their area to judge those actions. The Tughlaq Road police did not prepare a proper panchnama (incident report) after the fire.
The report commented:
“The ambit of the Committee is not to find fault with the action or inaction of the fire personnel or the police personnel as discussed above and, therefore, it would not be appropriate for us to comment upon the manner in which the fire personnel or the police personnel have gone about concluding the proceedings without preparing a proper Panchnama or seizure memo depicting the correct situation at the spot which can only be termed as slip shod.”
The panel also explained how the inquiry was conducted. They interviewed 55 witnesses, including Justice Varma and his daughter. However, no lawyers were allowed, and witnesses were not cross-examined. This was in line with legal standards.
“The nature of the inquiry was to be fact finding without being formal judicial inquiry involving examination and cross examination of witnesses or representation by lawyers in -12- view of the law laid down in Additional District Judge vs. Registrar General High Court of Madhya Pradesh, (2015) 4 SCC 91.”
To ensure transparency, the committee created its own process. Every statement and piece of evidence was shared with Justice Varma. They even video recorded the witness testimonies to avoid future challenges.
“All the incriminating material, including the statements of all the witnesses recorded during the enquiry was provided to him, and the recordings helped ensure that could not be challenged at a subsequent point of time and also for confirmation whether such statements were in sum and substance recorded correctly.”
The panel stated that:
“this committee holds the money/cash was found in the storeroom located within the premises of 30 Tughlaq Crescent… officially occupied by Justice Varma.”
Many witnesses, including police officers, firemen, and even Justice Varma’s own daughter, confirmed the presence of a huge amount of Rs 500 notes inside the storeroom of his residence. Some of the cash was even found half-burnt after a fire broke out in March.
Despite all this, Justice Varma did not report anything to the police or the judiciary.
The panel clearly said that-
“access to the storeroom was with Justice Varma and his family members, and (was) well-monitored without any outsiders getting access without permission.”
According to the report, more than 55 people were questioned, and several independent witnesses gave matching statements. One witness gave a shocking account to the panel:
“As I entered, I noticed on the right-hand side and in front, there was large pile of cash of Rs 500 notes lying on the floor. I was shocked and surprised at such large amounts of cash strewn on the floor… I saw this for the first time in my life.”
Another witness told the committee,
“I was shocked and surprised by such a large amount of cash it was the first time I saw anything like it in my life.”
The committee pointed out that neither Justice Varma nor his family gave any proper explanation about how the money came there. The judge claimed he didn’t know anything about it, but the panel said this story was not believable.
The panel wrote,
“No plausible explanation has been given the judge’s claim of lack of knowledge is unbelievable,”
and raised a big question:
“if there was any conspiracy, why did he not file a complaint or inform the Chief Justice of the High Court or the Chief Justice of India?”
According to the inquiry, the fire started in the storeroom of the bungalow on March 14. During firefighting, the personnel saw bundles of Rs 500 notes — some of them burnt. Despite this shocking discovery, Justice Varma or his staff didn’t include any mention of the cash in the fire report.
The report says the judge’s private secretary Rajinder Singh Karki instructed the fire officials to avoid including details of the cash in their report.
Adding to the suspicion, a senior fire officer reportedly told his team to drop the issue because “higher ups were involved”.
Domestic workers at the judge’s home denied seeing anything, but the panel said that the police and fire officials had no reason to lie. They had also recorded videos and taken photos, showing the cash.
Justice Varma claimed the whole thing was a conspiracy, but the committee strongly rejected that theory. It clearly said,
“Currency notes were seen by multiple people and recorded in real time. It is implausible they were planted to frame him.”
Moreover, the report suggested that his daughter Diya Varma and private secretary Rajinder Karki might have had roles in removing evidence or cleaning the scene after the incident. The cash was gone when the room was later checked again, and the place had been cleaned.
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The committee also reported that the cash was not small in value or hidden accidentally. It said,
“The piles of burnt cash are highly suspicious items and… not small denomination… could not have been placed… without the active consent of Justice Varma or his family.”
Based on all the evidence, the committee has reached a strong conclusion. It said,
“… this committee is firmly of the view there is sufficient substance in the allegations raised (by) the Chief Justice of India (then Sanjiv Kumar) … and the misconduct found proved is serious enough to call for initiation of proceedings for removal of Justice Yashwant Varma…”
This means that the committee has officially recommended Justice Varma be impeached, which means removed from his judge post through Parliament. He was transferred back to the Allahabad High Court after the incident but is currently not assigned any judicial work.
He has not resigned or taken voluntary retirement and continues to say the process is unfair, calling it a “fundamentally unjust” inquiry.
In his defence, Justice Varma has said that neither he nor his family knew about the cash, and claimed that the storeroom was accessible to anyone on the property.
According to sources quoted earlier this month, the impeachment process is very likely to start soon. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju is expected to talk to leaders of different political parties to reach an agreement, as this would be the first time in India’s history that a sitting judge is forcibly removed from office.
Although five judges have come close to being impeached in independent India, no one has ever been removed. The last big attempt was in 2018, when former Chief Justice of India Deepak Misra faced similar charges related to how he handled court cases.
NOTE: The Report Was Shared By Maneesh Chhibber With Media
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