Justice Yashwant Varma Moves Supreme Court Against Impeachment Move Over Cash Row
Justice Yashwant Varma has approached the Supreme Court challenging the in-house panel report that recommended his impeachment, following the discovery of sacks of charred currency notes at his official residence in New Delhi in March.
In his petition, Justice Varma argued that the inquiry violated principles of natural justice, claiming he was not given a fair chance to present his defence. He also stated that then-Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna denied him a personal hearing before forwarding the report seeking his removal.
The case stems from a fire at Justice Varma’s official residence at 30 Tughlak Crescent in March, when he was serving as a Delhi High Court judge. The fire led to the discovery of burnt cash inside the outhouse, triggering a high-level inquiry. Justice Varma was later repatriated to the Allahabad High Court as the in-house probe, led by a Supreme Court-constituted committee, proceeded against him.
The three-member panel, comprising Justices Sheel Nagu, GS Sandhawalia, and Anu Sivaraman, submitted a 64-page report to Chief Justice Khanna on May 4, concluding that Justice Varma and his family had covert or active control over the storeroom where the cash was discovered. The panel found this amounted to serious misconduct warranting impeachment proceedings.
According to the report, forensic and electronic evidence indicated that the currency was removed secretly during the early hours of March 15, before the matter became public. The report also flagged contradictions between testimonies from domestic staff and independent witnesses, highlighting that Varma’s household staff uniformly denied seeing cash despite witness accounts suggesting otherwise.
Following the report, Chief Justice Khanna referred the matter to the President and Prime Minister after Justice Varma declined to resign.
Justice Varma has consistently denied any wrongdoing in the matter. The ongoing case has raised questions about transparency and accountability within the judiciary and triggered a debate on the rare and complex process of impeaching a sitting High Court judge in India.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear Justice Varma’s plea in the coming days as the matter gains national attention.
