Justice Verma faces impeachment after burnt cash scandal
Unaccounted Rs 500 notes were found at Justice Yashwant Verma's official residence in New Delhi.
A three-member inquiry committee investigating allegations against Allahabad High Court Judge Justice Yashwant Varma has found all three charges against him to be true. The committee stated that his explanation regarding the large amount of unaccounted cash found at his official residence was "evasive" and "misleading."
The inquiry committee found that,
bundles of ₹500 notes were recovered from Justice Yashwant Varma's official residence in New Delhi, for which there was no account. According to the committee, Justice Varma failed to provide a satisfactory explanation regarding the source of these notes.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had constituted this committee to investigate the grounds for Justice Varma's removal from office.
The committee's report, presented in Parliament on Wednesday, confirmed that bundles of cash were found in a storeroom at 30, Tughlaq Crescent, New Delhi, after a fire broke out on the night of 14 March 2025. At that time, Justice Varma was a judge of the Delhi High Court.
Supreme Court Judge Justice Aravind Kumar chaired the inquiry committee. The committee also included former Chief Justice of Bombay High Court Mr. Chandrashekhar and senior advocate B. V. Acharya. The report stated that Justice Varma failed to provide a satisfactory explanation regarding the "presence, source, or ownership" of the currency notes found in the official residential complex.
According to the report,
neither were crucial pieces of evidence secured nor preserved. The condition of the site was tampered with before the official inspection, and there was no explanation for how the cash disappeared later. The committee stated that this conclusion is not based on the judge himself removing the cash but on the failure to secure evidence and allowing it to happen at an institutional level.
The committee stated that the explanation provided by Justice Varma on 22 March 2025 and his subsequent stance "did not demonstrate the clarity and responsibility expected of him." The report said, "Upon examination based on the evidence of independent government witnesses and corroborating material, his explanation was found to be evasive and unsatisfactory."
The committee noted that the then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna had sought an explanation from Justice Varma following the incident. In his written response, Justice Varma stated that "he was never aware of any money or cash being kept in the outhouse storeroom, neither he nor any member of his family knew about the cash, and no such cash or currency notes were shown to his family members or staff, so the question of providing an explanation for its source does not arise." He denied any allegations of removing currency notes from the storeroom.
However, the committee said, "he failed to appear as a witness and state this under oath, and he did not face cross-examination. The report also criticized his conduct during the investigation."
It should be noted that these conclusions came after an earlier internal investigation ordered by the then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna following the controversy in March 2025. After that investigation committee found Justice Varma's explanation unsatisfactory, the then CJI Khanna asked him to resign or face the constitutional process of removal. Justice Varma refused to resign at that time, after which the report was sent to the President and the Prime Minister. Subsequently, the process for his removal was initiated in Parliament. The Lok Sabha accepted the motion against him and constituted a statutory inquiry committee.
It remains to be seen whether the matter is considered closed with the presentation of the report in Parliament or if Parliament may consider the implications of these findings and explore the possibility of proceeding with impeachment to remove Justice Varma from office despite his resignation.
It should be noted that on the night of 14 March 2025, a fire broke out at Justice Varma's official residence. Firefighters called to extinguish the blaze found a large amount of burnt notes in a storeroom. At the time of the controversy, he was a judge of the Delhi High Court. Following the controversy, he was transferred to his parent High Court, the Allahabad High Court.