A three-member judicial inquiry committee has concluded that all three charges levelled against former Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma stand established, including the alleged possession of a substantial quantity of unexplained cash at his official residence, failure to safeguard material evidence and the submission of evasive and misleading explanations.
The report of the committee, constituted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, was placed before the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The inquiry arose from the discovery of burnt and partially burnt ₹500 currency notes following a fire at Justice Varma’s official residence in Delhi during the intervening night of March 14 and 15, 2025. The committee has expressly recorded that Articles of Charge I, II and III were proved.
The inquiry panel was headed by Supreme Court Justice Aravind Kumar and comprised Supreme Court Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and senior advocate BV Acharya.
In arriving at its findings, the committee relied, among other material, on the accounts of officials from the Delhi Fire Services and Delhi Police. Their testimonies referred to bundles and heaps of ₹500 notes lying across the storeroom. One police official reportedly observed that even an estimate of ₹5 lakh would fall short of adequately conveying the scale of the currency found at the premises.
The committee acknowledged that the cash was neither seized nor counted and that no inventory or panchnama was prepared. While these shortcomings made it impossible to ascertain the precise amount involved, the panel held that they did not detract from the evidence establishing that the currency was present in a “huge and substantial” quantity.
The report also took serious note of the manner in which the storeroom was dealt with after the fire. It was not immediately secured or sealed. Security personnel reportedly noticed Justice Varma’s private secretary, Rajinder Singh Karki, and a household employee, Mohd Rahil, in the vicinity of the room. Cleaning activity was subsequently undertaken, with burnt material removed and the premises cleaned before the morning.
According to the committee, these circumstances constituted significant lapses in the preservation of potentially material evidence. Although the currency had been identified, it was neither secured as evidence nor was the storeroom promptly sealed, thereby compromising the integrity of the scene.
The panel further rejected Justice Varma’s assertion that the storeroom was beyond his effective control. It noted that the room formed part of his official residential premises and contained his personal belongings, thereby making the claim of lack of control untenable.
The committee also found material inconsistencies in Justice Varma’s explanations during the course of the inquiry. His defence, as recorded in the report, included suggestions that the currency could have been counterfeit, planted as part of a conspiracy, connected to members of the household staff or removed by persons who first responded to the fire. However, the committee noted that no complaint or First Information Report alleging theft, planting of currency or tampering with evidence was brought on record.
Justice Varma subsequently withdrew from the inquiry before presenting his defence evidence. He neither entered the witness box himself nor produced members of his household or staff as defence witnesses. In these circumstances, the committee assessed his response as evasive and incomplete, and held that its overall effect was misleading.
The proceedings stemmed from an in-house inquiry initiated by the then Chief Justice of India in March 2025 following the discovery of the currency at Justice Varma’s official residence. He was later repatriated to the Allahabad High Court, his parent court, while his judicial responsibilities were withdrawn.
The formal process for his removal was set in motion by the Lok Sabha Speaker in August 2025. Although Justice Varma resigned from judicial office in April 2026, before the removal proceedings reached their conclusion, the inquiry committee continued with its mandate and ultimately submitted its findings to Parliament.
The committee’s report thus places on record a finding that each of the three charges framed against the former judge was established on the material examined during the inquiry.
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