Justice Yashwant Varma Refuses to Resign Despite Cash Recovery, Impeachment Process Likely
Justice Yashwant Varma, a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court, has refused to resign despite the confirmed recovery of a large amount of cash from his official residence, sources said on Thursday.
The confirmation came from a Supreme Court-appointed in-house enquiry committee investigating the matter.
In light of the findings, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna has formally written to the President of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, outlining the details of the enquiry report.
The move signals the likely initiation of impeachment proceedings against Justice Varma.
The incident traces back to March 14, when a fire broke out at Justice Varma’s residence. During the subsequent inspection, a significant quantity of cash was reportedly discovered.
The in-house committee, tasked with examining the incident, later submitted its findings to the Chief Justice of India, confirming the recovery.
Following the report, Justice Varma was offered a choice: resign voluntarily or face impeachment. However, in his response to the Chief Justice, Justice Varma rejected the option to step down, asserting his innocence.
By judicial procedure, the CJI is required to forward the enquiry report and the judge’s response to the President and Prime Minister if the judge refuses to resign.
Justice Varma has maintained that the cash did not belong to him, arguing that the room from which it was recovered was accessible to various individuals and not under his exclusive control.
“The very idea or suggestion that this cash was kept or stored by us is utterly preposterous,” he reportedly stated in his reply.
The discovery of the cash prompted swift action. Delhi High Court Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya ordered a preliminary enquiry and immediately withdrew all judicial responsibilities from Justice Varma.
He was subsequently transferred to the Allahabad High Court, though no fresh judicial work was assigned to him.
Should the impeachment process move forward, Parliament will be required to establish a separate enquiry committee to examine charges of “proven misbehaviour” or “incapacity”—the constitutional criteria for removing a High Court judge from office.
