Parliamentary panel indicts Justice Varma, says cash recovery charges proved
New Delhi: The Lok Sabha Speaker-appointed inquiry committee has indicted Justice Yashwant Varma, recommending further action after finding all three charges against him proved. The charges relate to the recovery of large amounts of cash at his official residence in Delhi in March 2025, the unexplained disappearance of the money, and his evasive responses during the inquiry.
The committee's report, headed by Supreme Court judge Aravind Kumar, was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. It recommended "such further action as may be considered in accordance with law" against Justice Varma, who had withdrawn from the inquiry proceedings and later resigned as a judge of the Allahabad High Court.
The committee stated that Justice Varma's explanation for the pile of cash "remained evasive and unsatisfactory when tested against evidence of independent official witnesses and corroborative material." It returned a finding that all three charges against the judge stood proved, according to sources familiar with the report.
On the judge's testimony, the 121-page report said: "It was evasive because it did not engage with the central circumstance of substantial currency notes seen by independent officials inside the storeroom. It was incomplete because it did not disclose the factual steps allegedly taken by him, the details of inquiries made, the answers received from staff or household members, or any action taken to preserve the site. It was misleading in effect because the earliest broad denial gave way to successive alternative hypotheses, none of which was substantiated when opportunity to lead defence evidence was available."
The committee noted that Justice Varma's reply to the Delhi High Court Chief Justice on March 22, 2025—a week after the fire incident that led to the discovery of the cash—and his subsequent stand "did not exhibit the candour, transparency and institutional responsibility expected in the circumstances."
Regarding Justice Varma's decision to withdraw from the proceedings and resign, the committee observed that he withdrew at a stage when he was required to substantiate with evidence his theories relating to foul play, planting of money, and the possible role of staff. "He did not lead evidence to substantiate them," the report said.
The committee recorded the shifting shape of the judge's defence. "The defence moved from denial of presence to absence of seizure and verification, to possible fake currency notes, to possible removal by first responders, and to suspicions regarding staff. Each of these hypotheses required some factual foundation if it was to displace the evidence of independent official witnesses and the corroborative electronic material," it said.
By alleging that first responders had removed the burnt currency notes, the judge admitted these were in the storeroom inside his residential premises, the committee said. It also referred to his writ petition in the Supreme Court, in which he had indirectly admitted to the presence of cash at his residence.
"No satisfactory explanation has been furnished as to how currency notes seen by several official witnesses disappeared or became unavailable. These facts establish failure..." the report said, according to excerpts.
What shape the recommended "action" might take is not yet clear. Sources did not rule out the possibility of Parliament initiating removal proceedings against Justice Varma despite his resignation. A CBI inquiry was also being discussed as a possible course of action.
Justice Varma had withdrawn from the inquiry after failing to provide convincing replies to questions, and his resignation was seen as a move to pre-empt removal proceedings by Parliament. The committee's report now places the matter before the Lok Sabha, which will decide the next steps in accordance with constitutional provisions.
