Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna on Saturday set up a three-member committee to conduct an in-house inquiry into allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma after a large stash of cash was allegedly found at his official residence following a fire. The CJI also directed that no judicial work be assigned to him during the probe.
The inquiry was ordered after the CJI received a report from Delhi High Court Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyay. The committee comprises Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court; Justice G.S. Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court; and Justice Anu Sivaraman of the Karnataka High Court.
The controversy erupted after a fire broke out at Justice Varma’s residence in Lutyens’ Delhi on the night of Holi, March 14, around 11:35 p.m. Fire department personnel rushed to the scene and reportedly discovered a significant amount of cash while dousing the flames. If there is one person who can bring clarity to the massive scam rocking the judiciary, it is Justice Yashwant Varma (56). He is at the centre of a raging controversy over the reported discovery of crores of rupees in cash at his official bungalow in New Delhi on March 14. The Allahabad Bar Association has claimed that the amount was Rs 15 cr while sources say it is “much more” than that.
On Friday, the Supreme Court stated that the Delhi High Court chief justice had already initiated an in-house inquiry into the matter. Additionally, a proposal to transfer Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court was under consideration.
The Supreme Court collegium, comprising the CJI and four senior-most judges, examined Justice Varma’s transfer proposal on March 20. Letters were sent to consultees, including Supreme Court judges and high court chief justices.
Strongly denying that he or his family had kept any cash in the storeroom from which the burnt remains of several wads of notes were allegedly recovered, Delhi High Court Justice Yashwant Varma has said the room is disconnected from his main residence and is accessible to, and used by, several people. In a lengthy response to Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay on the alleged recovery of cash, Justice Varma said a fire broke out in the storeroom situated near the staff quarters of his official residence in Delhi late on the night of March 14, which was Holi.
Justice Varma enrolled as an advocate in 1992 and was appointed an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court in 2014. He became a permanent judge in 2016 before being elevated to the Delhi High Court in 2021. He currently heads a division bench handling cases related to sales tax, Goods and Services Tax (GST), and company appeals. The alleged discovery of a large stash of cash at the residence of Delhi High Court Justice Yashwant Varma has reignited interest in the Simbhaoli Sugar Mill fraud case — a financial scandal that has largely slipped from public memory — in which Varma was also named as an accused.
The incident has drawn fresh scrutiny regarding his past financial dealings, particularly his association with Simbhaoli Sugars Limited, a company embroiled in a multi-crore banking fraud. The case dates back to February 2018, when the CBI launched a probe into Simbhaoli Sugars following a complaint from the Oriental Bank of Commerce.
The bank alleged that the company misappropriated a Rs 97.85 crore loan intended for farmers, diverting the funds for other purposes. By May 2015, Simbhaoli Sugars had already been flagged as a “suspected fraud” case and reported to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The CBI subsequently registered an FIR against 12 individuals, listing Yashwant Varma as the tenth accused in his then capacity as a Non-Executive Director of the company. Despite the severity of the allegations, the case seemingly lost momentum, and no significant action was taken against those named in the FIR, including Varma.
A sitting judge can only be removed through an impeachment motion passed by Parliament.
