An internal inquiry panel has found compelling evidence of grave misconduct by Justice Yashwant Varma, currently serving at the Allahabad High Court, after a cache of half-burnt currency was recovered from a store room at his official Delhi residence. The panel has recommended his removal from office through impeachment proceedings.

The inquiry committee, headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and comprising Chief Justice G.S. Sandhawalia (Himachal Pradesh High Court) and Justice Anu Sivaraman (Karnataka High Court), submitted a damning 64-page report following a 10-day probe.

THE NEWS DOSE DESK 

Delhi/Chandigarh, June 19

An internal inquiry panel has found compelling evidence of grave misconduct by Justice Yashwant Varma, currently serving at the Allahabad High Court, after a cache of half-burnt currency was recovered from a store room at his official Delhi residence. The panel has recommended his removal from office through impeachment proceedings.

The inquiry committee, headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and comprising Chief Justice G.S. Sandhawalia (Himachal Pradesh High Court) and Justice Anu Sivaraman (Karnataka High Court), submitted a damning 64-page report following a 10-day probe. The panel examined 55 witnesses and visited the site of the accidental fire that broke out around 11:35 pm on March 14 at 30 Tughlak Crescent — the official bungalow occupied by Justice Varma when he was a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court.

The committee held that Justice Varma and his family had “covert or active control” over the store room where charred stacks of ₹500 notes were found. That inferential evidence indicated the cash was removed from the premises in the early hours of March 15. The report concluded that the misconduct was severe enough to warrant his impeachment.

“This committee thus holds that the cash/money was found in the store room of 30 Tughlak Crescent, New Delhi, officially occupied by Justice Varma. Access to the store room was within his or his family’s control. It is established through strong circumstantial evidence that the burnt cash was removed during the early hours of March 15,” the report stated.

In response to the findings, former Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna wrote to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recommending the initiation of impeachment proceedings against the judge.

The inquiry panel drew upon direct and electronic evidence and emphasised that the allegations of misconduct raised in the CJI’s March 22 letter had merit. The panel critically examined Justice Varma’s explanation and found his account inconsistent and inadequate.

Referring to the Restatement of Values of Judicial Life adopted by the Supreme Court in 1997, the panel underlined that a judge is held to a higher standard of probity than other public officials. “Probity is the most important and indispensable attribute of a person holding a judicial office. It is, in fact, the basic eligibility criterion,” the panel stated. It added that even the perception of impropriety could erode public trust — the bedrock of judicial credibility.

The report extensively questioned the testimony of Justice Varma’s daughter, who was present in the house on the night in question. It noted contradictions in her version and said her confident demeanour did not align with her claim of being overwhelmed and panicked.

The panel rejected Justice Varma’s defence that the store room was monitored by CCTV and guarded, making it improbable that such cash could have been stored or moved undetected. Eyewitnesses, including police officers and firefighters, testified to seeing charred currency strewn across the floor. One described the scene as “shocking” and said it was the first time he had seen such a large amount of cash in his life.

The panel framed and examined three key questions during the inquiry:

1. How does Justice Varma explain the presence of cash in the store room?

2. What is the source of the money?

3. Who removed the burnt currency in the early hours of March 15?

The committee’s conclusion was unequivocal: the evidence on record points to serious judicial misconduct that undermines the integrity expected of a member of the higher judiciary. The report stated, “Any deficiency in this regard erodes public trust, which ought to be viewed stringently.”

What began as a routine fire incident at a judge’s residence has now escalated into a major judicial scandal, with the highest levels of the judiciary now pushing for impeachment to preserve public faith in the institution.