LUCKNOW: In a major development, a year after getting embroiled in a cash-at-home row, Justice Yashwant Varma of the Allahabad High Court has resigned, sending his letter dated April 9, 2026, to the President of India on Friday, stating that he is stepping down from office with immediate effect.
The resignation comes amid ongoing proceedings related to allegations of recovery of unaccounted cash from his official residence. In this matter, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla recently reconstituted a three-member committee under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, to conduct a probe against Justice Varma over the issue.
In the letter addressed to the President, Justice Varma wrote that he did not wish to burden the office with the reasons for his decision, expressing “deep anguish” while putting in his papers.
The outgoing judge also stated in the letter that it was an honour for him to serve as a judge of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad.
Justice Varma has marked a copy of his resignation letter to the Chief Justice of India.
Justice Varma faced allegations of amassing unaccounted money while he was in the Delhi High Court. The case stems from an incident on March 14, 2025, when a fire broke out in the storeroom of his official residence in Delhi. Bundles of burnt currency notes were allegedly found in the storeroom.
Following the incident, Justice Varma was repatriated to the Allahabad High Court on April 5, 2025, and is currently facing an in-house judicial inquiry. Judicial work had also been withdrawn from him pending the inquiry.
He may also be subjected to potential parliamentary removal proceedings, depending on the outcome of the investigation into the allegations.
Meanwhile, the members of the committee constituted by Om Birla include Justice Arvind Kumar of the Supreme Court, Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, and Vasudeva Acharya, Senior Advocate of the Karnataka High Court. This follows an impeachment motion submitted by 146 Lok Sabha members to the Speaker seeking Justice Varma’s removal.
According to legal experts, a judge can be removed from office under Articles 124 and 217 of the Constitution on grounds of “proved misbehaviour” or “incapacity”.
To initiate the proceedings, a notice of impeachment has to be sponsored by at least 100 Lok Sabha members or 50 Rajya Sabha members.
The Presiding Officer (Speaker) then verifies the notice, and if it is admitted, constitutes a three-member committee comprising the CJI or a Supreme Court judge, a Chief Justice of a High Court, and a distinguished jurist. The committee’s work is governed by the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968.
If the committee finds the allegations to be true, its report is tabled in the House for discussion and voting. For Justice Varma to be impeached, a majority of not less than two-thirds of members present and voting must support the motion.
Significantly, after the recovery of stacks of half-burnt currency notes from Justice Varma’s residence, a controversy broke out, and the then CJI Sanjiv Khanna constituted an in-house inquiry committee of three judges comprising Justice Sheel Nagu (then Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court), Justice GS Sandhawalia (then Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court), and Justice Anu Sivaraman (Judge, Karnataka High Court).
The committee submitted its report, prima facie finding Justice Varma’s culpability, to the then CJI in May.
The report was subsequently forwarded to the President and the Prime Minister for further action after Justice Varma refused to heed the CJI’s advice to resign.
Last year, the Supreme Court dismissed Justice Varma’s petition challenging the in-house inquiry as well as the CJI’s recommendation to remove him.
