Justice Yashwant Varma has resigned
Over a year after piles of burning cash were recovered from his official residence, Justice Varma became the second ever judge to resign while the three-member Inquiry Committee was yet to conclude findings.
The Leaflet
10 April 2026
IN A DRAMATIC TURN of events, Justice Yashwant Varma, who had been facing an inquiry after sacks of burnt Indian currency notes were found at the outhouse of his official residence in Delhi, has resigned with immediate effect.
Under Article 217(1)(a) of the Constitution of India, a High Court judge may resign from office by writing under his hand addressed to the President.
With his resignation, the ongoing inquiry against him under the Judges (Inquiry) Act also stands abated, since such an inquiry can only be conducted against a sitting judge.
The allegations against Justice Varma pertain to the alleged recovery of unaccounted cash by Delhi Fire Service personnel on March 14, 2025, from an outhouse at his official residence during a firefighting operation. At that time, he was a judge of the Delhi High Court.
Following the incident, the Supreme Court Collegium, headed by the then Chief Justice of India (CJI), Sanjiv Khanna, decided to repatriate him to his parent High Court, the Allahabad High Court.
With his resignation, the ongoing inquiry against him under the Judges (Inquiry) Act also stands abated.
The then CJI Khanna also constituted an in-house committee to probe the allegations against him. The committee concluded that “cash was found in the storeroom of 30 Tughlak Crescent, New Delhi, officially occupied by Justice Yashwant Varma,” and that “access to the storeroom (where the cash was kept) was under the covert or active control of Justice Varma and his family members.”
It further noted that “strong inferential evidence establishes that the burnt cash was removed from the storeroom during the early hours of March 15, 2025, from 30 Tughlak Crescent, New Delhi.”
The committee’s report stated, “The partially burnt currency notes found during the firefighting process are highly suspicious and not of a small amount or denomination, and could not have been placed in the storeroom without the tacit or active consent of Justice Varma or his family members.”
In its recommendation, the committee concluded, “Based on 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 the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India dated March 22, 2025. The misconduct found proven is serious enough to warrant the initiation of proceedings for the removal of Justice Yashwant Varma, Judge of the Allahabad High Court.”
Acting on the report, CJI Khanna gave Justice Varma the option to resign, but he refused. This constrained CJI Khanna to write to the Prime Minister recommending his removal from office.
On August 12 last year, the Lok Sabha Speaker constituted a three-member Inquiry Committee under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, to investigate the allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma, a former Delhi High Court judge then serving at the Allahabad High Court. This followed a motion to impeach Justice Varma signed by 146 MPs, including the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.