New Delhi: The Supreme Court collegium has formally recommended the repatriation of Delhi High Court Justice Yashwant Varma to the Allahabad High Court, days after a huge sum of cash was accidentally found from his official residence.
In an official statement, the collegium said “The Supreme Court Collegium in its meetings held on 20th and 24th March 2025 has recommended repatriation of Mr. Justice Yashwant Varma, Judge, High Court of Delhi, to the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad.”
On March 14, a fire broke out at the outhouse of Justice Verma’s official residence at 30, Tughlaq Crescent in New Delhi. While putting out the blaze, a video purportedly showed, fire fighters allegedly stumbled upon large sums of cash. Chief justice of Delhi High Court and the Delhi Commissioner of Police submitted reports of the same, along with the purported video, to the CJI.
On March 20, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna had called a meeting of the Supreme Court collegium regarding the video. The collegium had unanimously decided to recommend his transfer but the resolution was not immediately uploaded.
Soon, the controversy deepened.
Also read: Justice Varma Case: Too Many Questions Unanswered, Many of Them for Supreme Court
On March 22, after receiving Justice Verma’s written response on the incident, the Supreme Court set up a three-member formal inquiry committee and also made public redacted versions of this correspondence.
Justice Varma has denied that the cash found belonged to him. “In the life of a judge, nothing matters more than reputation and character. That has been severely tarnished and irreparably damaged. The baseless allegations that have been levelled against me have proceeded on mere innuendos and an unproven assumption that the cash allegedly seen and found belonged to me. This incident has scarred my reputation built over more than a decade as a Judge of a High Court, and it has left me with no means to defend myself,” he has said.
The Wire has analysed the many contradictions and inconsistencies with the case. The analysis can be read here.
Meanwhile, the Allahabad High Court Bar Association has issued a strongly worded statement questioning whether they were a “trash bin”.
However, a member of the Supreme Court collegium has earlier told The Wire that the transfer was the first step and a follow-up would be taken. “We were assured by the CJI that transfer is just the beginning and follow-up action would most certainly be taken by him. That is why we agreed to his proposal to transfer the judge back to the Allahabad high court,” the member said.
