NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Collegium, in meetings held on March 20 and 24, 2025, recommended the repatriation of Justice Yashwant Varma, Judge, High Court of Delhi, to the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, according to an official statement.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna had earlier formed a three-member committee comprising Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, Justice G.S. Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, and Justice Anu Sivaraman, Judge of the Karnataka High Court, to investigate allegations against Justice Varma.
CJI ordered the committe aside from an in-house inquiry following a report from Justice Upadhyaya.
Justice Upadhyaya's report to the CJI contains material with regard to official communication that says "four to five semi-burnt sacks of Indian currency notes" were found from the judge's Lutyens home.
Justice Varma has strongly denounced the allegations in the cash-discovery row and said no cash was ever placed in the storeroom of his residence either by him or any of his family members.
In his response to the high court chief justice, Justice Varma said the allegation of cash discovery from his residence clearly appeared to be a "conspiracy to frame and malign him".
Meanwhile the Allahabad High Court Bar Association on Monday demanded the scrutiny of judgments of Justice Yashwant Varma and opposed his proposed repatriation to his parent Allahabad High Court.
The bar body further sought the Chief Justice of India to "immediately recommend" to the government to draw impeachment proceedings against Justice Varma.
Earlier this week the Bar Association (HCBA) had expressed strong opposition to the proposed transfer. The HCBA stated, "We were taken aback that the Supreme Court has transferred Justice Yashwant Varma back to Allahabad High Court." The association said that the court should not be treated as a "trash bin" and reiterated its zero-tolerance stance on corruption.
Speaking to mediapersons, bar body president Anil Tiwari referred to a number of resolutions which said, "The High Court Bar Association opposes any proposed transfer of Justice Yashwant Varma to Allahabad High Court or its Lucknow bench or to any other High Court."
The bar body's resolution added, "All the judgements delivered by Justice Yashwant Varma during his tenure of a judge at Allahabad High Court and Delhi High Court be reviewed in order to inspire confidence of people at large to regain public faith in the judicial system. The manner in which this is to be done, is to be decided by the Supreme Court as we have full trust in our judge."
The bar body further said, "The CJI should immediately permit the filing of FIR and investigation by the CBI, ED and other investigative agencies with full permission to the investigative agencies to apply the law of the land to every offender..."
The association also sought the President of India, the Centre to take necessary steps to make the impeachment procedure "quick, easy and transparent by including members of the civil society".
The HCBA had also highlighted concerns about the existing shortage of judges in the Allahabad High Court, noting that new appointments have been pending for years. They bar association also slammed the lack of consultation with the Bar during judicial appointments, suggesting that this oversight has contributed to issues of corruption and eroded public trust in the judiciary.
(With inputs from Online Desk, PTI)
