Justice Varma Case: Three-Judge Panel Says ‘Sufficient Evidence’ to Call for His Removal

New Delhi: The three-member panel investigating the allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma has said that cash was found at his residence and that there is sufficient evidence to call for his removal, the Leaflet reported.

Justice Varma came under the scanner after piles of cash were allegedly found in a fire on the night of March 14 at the outhouse of his official residence in New Delhi. Justice Varma was a sitting judge of the Delhi high court at the time.

The panel – comprising of Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh high court G.S. Sandhawalia and Karnataka high court judge Anu Sivaraman – carried out the probe over 10 days. 

The panel spoke to over 55 witnesses and recorded their statements on camera to ensure that their veracity could not be questioned at a later time, the Leaflet reported.

The official report of the panel, over 60-pages long, concluded that cash was found in the store room of Justice Varma’s residence and that it was removed in the early hours of March 15.

“Cash/money was found in the store room of 30 Tughlak Crescent, New Delhi officially occupied by Justice (Yashwant) Varma” and that the “access to the store room (where the cash was kept) has been found to be within the covert or active control of Justice Varma and his family members and that by way of strong inferential evidence, it is established that the burnt cash/money was got removed from the store room during the wee hours of 15.03.2025 from 30 Tughlak Crescent, New Delhi”.

In its recommendation, the panel said, “Keeping in view the direct and electronic evidence on record, this Committee is firmly of the view that there is sufficient substance in the allegations raised in the letter of Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India dated 22.03.2025 and the misconduct found proved is serious enough to call for initiation of proceedings for removal of Justice Yashwant Varma, Judge of the Allahabad High Court.”

Also read: Fire, Smoke and Vanishing Cash at a Judge’s House: What We Know, What We Don’t Know

The panel held Justice Varma’s staff – Rahil/Hanuman Parshad Sharma and Rajinder Singh Karki – responsible for the burnt cash’s removal, after the Delhi police had left the premises, based on “inferential evidence”. 

The report said, “A conjunctive reading of the statements of eye witnesses, electronic evidence and the circumstantial evidence, which has come on record, as explained supra and the failure of Justice Varma and his personal staff to explain the omissions, contradictions and embellishment, noticed in their statements, this Committee is compelled to hold by way of strong inferential evidence on record that the most trusted personnel of domestic staff i.e. Rahil/Hanuman Parshad Sharma and Rajinder Singh Karki, Private Secretary to Justice Varma were instrumental in removing the burnt money/cash from the store room during the wee hours of 15.03.2025 sometime after the firemen/Delhi Police personnel had left the premises.”

“In the absence of any plausible explanation coming from Justice Varma or his family members or for that matter any other witness, this Committee is left with no option, but to hold that the trust reposed in him was belied by him by allowing highly suspicious material in the shape of piles of currency notes to be stashed in the store room. Whether this stashing was done with tacit or explicit consent of Justice Varma or his family members is of little significance in the face of larger concept of breach of public trust and property expected of the high constitutional office held by Justice Varma," it added.

The panel also probed Justice Varma’s daughter’s role in the alleged removal of cash from the premises. According to the report, at least 10 witnesses claimed to have seen the burnt or half-burnt currency notes.

The panel further noted that Justice Varma’s conduct, after being apprised of the cash found at his home, was “unnatural”. 

“...the fact that no attempt was made by Justice Varma or any member of his household to report the incident to any quarters or to immediately secure the visuals from the CCTV cameras and make them available in support of his contentions, at least, when he was told on 17.03.2025 that there were photos and videos of burnt cash in his premises, renders his contentions totally unbelievable,” the panel said.

“The unnatural conduct of Justice Yashwant Varma has already been noticed above and the fact that if there was any conspiracy theory why he chose not to file any complaint with the police officials or bring it to the notice of the Chief Justice of the High Court or the Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India regarding the fact that there were planted stories regarding the burning of currency notes in the store room which is part of his house?" it added.

The report also noted that Justice Varma’s claim about the storehouse being accessible by all was unacceptable based on the testimony of security personnel. The panel said that it was “impossible for currency to be planted” at the site of the fire in a sitting judge’s house that was “monitored by static 1+4 guard and a PSO stationed at the gate at all times”

Justice Varma has maintained that he is innocent and called the action against him as “fundamentally unjust”.

In a press conference on Tuesday, senior advocate and president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Kapil Sibal, raised questions on the findings of the panel's report. Questioning the Delhi police's conduct, he asked where the missing cash went. "Even if a single note was found and its serial number determined, we would be able to find out which bank the note came from. How is that not a single not was recovered?" Sibal asked.

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