A three-member committee has been constituted by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna to conduct an inquiry into allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma, a sitting Judge of the High Court of Delhi. The committee comprises Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana, Justice GS Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, and Anu Sivaraman, Judge of the High Court of Karnataka.
Allegations surfaced against Justice Varma after a fire at his official residence led to the alleged discovery of a significant amount of cash. Initial reports put the amount at Rs 15 crore, although this figure has not been officially confirmed.
The Supreme Court’s in-house inquiry procedure dictates that when allegations arise against a High Court judge, the Chief Justice of India, after a preliminary inquiry, forms a committee of three judges to investigate the matter after seeking a response from the judge in question.
No judicial work
Significantly, the Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi for the time being has been asked not to assign any judicial work to Justice Yashwant Varma. The report submitted by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi, response of Justice Yashwant Varma, and other documents, are being uploaded on the Supreme Court website.
Following the alleged discovery of the unaccounted cash, the Supreme Court collegium had convened a meeting and the Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi, D K Upadhyay, was asked to file a report regarding the allegations against Justice Varma. The report was submitted on March 21.
In another decision, which the SC has clarified was not connected to the allegations, Justice Varma was transferred back to his parent court in Allahabad.
The Supreme Court has emphasised that the proposal for Justice Varma’s transfer was independent of any ongoing inquiry into the cash allegations.
In February 2018, the Central Bureau of Investigation had named Justice Varma as an accused in the Simbhaoli Sugar Mill fraud case involving a ₹97.85 crore loan misappropriation. Justice Varma was a non-executive director of the company at the time. Although the CBI launched a probe, the case seemingly lost momentum, and a subsequent court order to resume the investigation was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2024, effectively ending the inquiry.
