CJI Khanna sets up 3-judge panel to probe ‘cash at home’ allegations against Justice Varma

Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna on Saturday constituted a three-member committee to conduct an inquiry into allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma from whose official residence a large stash of cash was allegedly discovered after a fire. CJI Khanna ordered the in-house inquiry after getting a report from Chief Justice of Delhi High Court D K Upadhyay and asked him not to assign any judicial work to Justice Yashwant Varma.

The inquiry committee consists of Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Justice G S Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, and Anu Sivaraman, Judge of the High Court of Karnataka.

"The Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi for the time being has been asked not to assign any judicial work to Mr Justice Yashwant Varma. The Report submitted by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi, response of Mr. Justice Yashwant Varma, and other documents, are being uploaded on the Supreme Court website," a statement from the top court said.


Read More | Four to five sacks of burnt currency notes found at Justice Varma’s residence: Inquiry report

Who is Justice Varma?

Justice Varma, who is the second senior-most judge in the Delhi High Court, was appointed to the court on October 11, 2021.

Delhi High Court website shows Justice Varma enrolled as an advocate on August 8, 1992. He was appointed as an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court on October 13, 2014.

He took oath as a permanent judge of the Allahabad High Court on February 1, 2016, before being appointed as a judge of the Delhi High Court on October 11, 2021.

Read More | "Preposterous, incredulous, unfounded" insinuations levelled against me: Justice Yashwant Varma's response

He is currently heading a division bench, dealing with cases of sales tax, GST, company appeals and other appeals of the original side.

On Friday, Justice Varma did not hold court, said his court master.

The top court has an in-house inquiry mechanism in place to deal with allegations against judges of the Constitutional courts.

The procedure entails the CJI, after a preliminary inquiry, forming a committee of three Supreme Court judges to enquire into the matter after seeking the response of the judge concerned.

Based on the report of the panel, further action could be taken.

A judge of a constitutional court can be removed from office only through an impeachment motion passed by Parliament.