Justice Yashwant Varma has been indicted by an in-house committee constituted by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna in connection with the alleged recovery of unaccounted cash from his residence following a fire on March 14. The in-house committee, comprising of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu of Punjab & Haryana High Court, Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia of Himachal Pradesh High Court, and Justice Anu Sivaraman of Karnataka High Court, submitted its report to the CJI on May 4.

Justice Varma has been given until May 9, to respond. As per procedure, he has been asked to resign. If he declines, the report is expected to be forwarded to the President of India with a recommendation for impeachment.

The controversy began after a fire broke out at Justice Varma’s official residence in Delhi, during which firefighters allegedly discovered bundles of unaccounted cash. A video showing the cash burning in the blaze later surfaced, sparking widespread allegations of corruption. At the time of the incident, Justice Varma and his wife were in Madhya Pradesh; only his daughter and elderly mother were at home.

Justice Varma has denied the allegations, claiming the incident appears to be a conspiracy to frame him. In the wake of the controversy, he was repatriated to his parent court, the Allahabad High Court, where he recently took oath. However, on the instructions of the CJI, his judicial work has been withdrawn pending further action.

The Delhi Police Commissioner had shared the video with the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court made public, both the preliminary report on the incident and Justice Varma’s written response.

While the in-house inquiry was underway, the Supreme Court declined to entertain a plea seeking registration of an FIR against Justice Varma. Justice Varma is also reported to have sought legal advice from a team of senior lawyers, including Siddharth Agarwal, Arundhati Katju, Tara Narula, and Stuti Gujral.

Source: News