Justice Yashwant Varma has declined to resign despite being indicted by an in-house panel over unaccounted cash at his residence. The CJI has forwarded the report to the President and PM, opening doors to impeachment.
New Delhi: Justice Yashwant Varma, a High Court judge, has refused to resign even after an internal committee of senior judges found him guilty in an inquiry related to the discovery of unaccounted cash at his official residence in Delhi.
This serious incident has now moved to the next stage, where the Central Government and Parliament may start the process to remove him from his post.
Sources said that after receiving the report from the three-judge committee, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna had asked Justice Varma to resign voluntarily.
He reportedly warned that if Justice Varma did not step down, impeachment proceedings would be started.
“However, since Justice Varma declined to quit the judgeship, CJI Khanna has now forwarded the report and the judge’s response on it, to the President of India and the Prime Minister for removal of the judge.”
As per the in-house procedure followed by the judiciary, if a judge does not resign even after the inquiry committee gives an adverse report, then the CJI is supposed to inform the President and Prime Minister.
“This is per the in-house procedure under which the CJI is required to report the matter to the President and Prime Minister for removal of the judge who refuses to resign even after adverse findings of the inquiry panel.”
This means that now the responsibility to take action lies with the government and Parliament.
“This would mean that the ball is now in the court of the government and the parliament and they can initiate impeachment of the judge.”
The committee that investigated the case included Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia, and Karnataka High Court Justice Anu Sivaraman.
They began their investigation on March 25, 2025, and submitted their report to the CJI on May 4, 2025.
The matter came to light on the evening of March 14, 2025, when a fire broke out at Justice Varma’s house in Delhi.
Firefighters who responded to the emergency reportedly found large amounts of cash that were burnt in the fire.
Justice Varma and his wife were not in Delhi at that time as they were travelling in Madhya Pradesh.
“Only his daughter and aged mother were at home when the fire broke out.”
Later, a video came out showing bundles of currency notes burning in the fire.
“A video later surfaced showing bundles of cash burning in the fire.”
This raised serious concerns about corruption. Justice Varma denied all the allegations and said that this seemed like a plot to falsely implicate him.
“Justice Varma, who denied the accusations and said that it appeared to be a conspiracy to frame him.”
Following this shocking incident, the Chief Justice of India ordered an in-house inquiry and formed a three-member committee on March 22, 2025.
“The CJI then initiated an in-house probe into the allegations and set up the three-member committee on March 22 to conduct the inquiry.”
The Delhi Police Commissioner had shared the video of the burnt currency with the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.
The Supreme Court later made the video public and also shared the preliminary findings of the Delhi High Court Chief Justice on the case, along with the response of Justice Varma.
“The video of the burnt cash was shared by the Delhi Police Commissioner with the Chief Justice of the High Court. It was then made public by the Supreme Court, which also in an unprecedented development published a preliminary report of Delhi High Court Chief Justice on the incident along with Justice Varma’s response.”
After these developments, Justice Varma was transferred back to his original High Court—the Allahabad High Court—and recently took oath again there.
“Following the allegations, Justice Varma was sent back to his parent High Court, the Allahabad High Court, where he recently was administered oath of office.”
However, as per CJI Khanna’s instructions, he has not been assigned any judicial work for now.
“The judicial work of the judge has been temporarily taken away on instructions of the CJI.”
This repatriation also led to a protest by the Allahabad High Court Bar Association.
“The Allahabad High Court Bar Association had earlier gone on strike to protest Justice Varma’s repatriation.”
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court refused to allow a petition that wanted the police to register an FIR against Justice Varma because the in-house inquiry was still ongoing.
“Considering the pendency of the in-house probe, the Supreme Court on the judicial side refused to entertain a plea seeking the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Justice Varma.”
During the investigation, Justice Varma is said to have taken legal advice from some senior advocates.
“Soon after the in-house probe started, Justice Varma reportedly sought legal advice from a team of senior lawyers.”
Background
The controversy began on March 14, 2025, when a fire broke out at Justice Yashwant Varma’s Delhi residence.
While his wife and he were away, firefighters discovered large amounts of burning cash at the scene. A video of the incident, later made public by the Supreme Court, sparked allegations of corruption.
In response, CJI Sanjiv Khanna initiated an internal inquiry through a three-judge panel. The committee completed its probe and submitted its report on May 4, reportedly indicting Justice Varma.
Amid this, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended his transfer to the Allahabad High Court, where he was not assigned any judicial work. His transfer faced resistance from the Bar Association there.
Despite being given the opportunity to resign, Justice Varma refused, prompting the CJI to forward the inquiry report and Varma’s response to the President and Prime Minister, setting the stage for potential impeachment proceedings.
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