ON WEDNESDAY, the Lok Sabha Speaker reconstituted a three-member Inquiry Committee under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 to investigate allegations of corruption against Justice Yashwant Varma, a former Delhi High Court judge who is currently serving at the Allahabad High Court.
Bombay High Court Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar has been inducted into the committee to replace Madras High Court Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava, who is due to retire on March 5.
In August last year, the Speaker constituted a committee comprising Supreme Court Justice Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Manindra Mohan Shrivastava, and senior advocate B.V. Acharya.
The allegations against Justice Varma relate to the alleged recovery of unaccounted cash by Delhi Fire Service personnel on March 14, 2025 from an outhouse at his official residence during a firefighting operation.
Under the 1968 Act, Members of Parliament (MPs) are authorised to sign a motion for the removal of a judge.
In the Lok Sabha, the motion requires the signatures of at least 100 MPs, while in the Rajya Sabha it requires at least 50 MPs.
The allegations against Justice Varma relate to the alleged recovery of unaccounted cash by Delhi Fire Service personnel on March 14, 2025.
Under Article 124(4) read with Article 218 of the Constitution, a High Court judge can be removed only if both Houses of Parliament, by a majority of the total membership of each House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of each House present and voting, pass a resolution to that effect and present an address to the President in the same session, citing proved misbehaviour or incapacity.
The Judges (Inquiry) Act outlines the procedure for investigating charges against a judge. The committee is required to frame specific charges against the judge, provide the judge with a reasonable opportunity to cross-examine witnesses, adduce evidence, and be heard in his or her defence.
An in-house committee formed by the then Chief Justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna, concluded that “cash was found in the storeroom of 30 Tughlak Crescent, New Delhi, officially occupied by Justice Yashwant Varma” and that “access to the storeroom (where the cash was kept) was under the covert or active control of Justice Varma and his family members.”
It further noted that “strong inferential evidence establishes that the burnt cash was removed from the storeroom during the early hours of 15 March 2025 from 30 Tughlak Crescent, New Delhi.”
The committee’s report stated: “The partially burnt currency notes found during the firefighting process are highly suspicious and not of a small amount or denomination, which could not have been placed in the storeroom without the tacit or active consent of Justice Varma or his family members.”
In its recommendation, the committee concluded: “Based on the direct and electronic evidence on record, this Committee is firmly of the view that there is sufficient substance in the allegations raised in the letter of the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India dated 22 March 2025. The misconduct found proved is serious enough to warrant the initiation of proceedings for the removal of Justice Yashwant Varma, Judge of the Allahabad High Court.”
A petition filed by Justice Varma challenging the in-house report was dismissed by the Supreme Court.
Last month, the Supreme Court also rejected his challenge to the decision of the Lok Sabha Speaker to admit a motion for his removal as a High Court judge and to constitute a three-member inquiry committee under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 to investigate the allegations against him.
Justice Varma has continued to be divested of judicial work, while receiving his full salary from the Consolidated Fund of India, for nearly a year.
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