The Supreme Court of India on Saturday announced that the Chief Justice of India has formed a three-member committee to probe the allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma, a judge of the Delhi High Court. The CJI also asked the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court to not assign any case to Justice Varma.
The committee will probe the incident of the discovery of huge amounts of cash at Justice Varma’s house by firefighters after the house caught fire.
A press release issued by the Supreme Court stated that Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana, Justice G.S. Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, and Anu Sivaraman, Judge of the High Court of Karnataka, will be members of the three-member committee.
CJI Forms 3-Judge Panel to Probe 'Cash at Judge’s Residence' Case; Justice Varma Relieved of Judicial Duties pic.twitter.com/hDuDlIggpg
— IANS (@ians_india) March 22, 2025
“The Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi for the time being has been asked not to assign any judicial work to Mr. Justice Yashwant Varma,” the Supreme Court stated in the press release.
The apex court further stated that the Report submitted by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi, the response of Justice Yashwant Varma, and other documents, are being uploaded on the Supreme Court website.
The Delhi High Court had ordered an in-house inquiry into the allegations against Justice Varma, report of which was submitted with the CJI yesterday. However, the Supreme Court yesterday denied any link between Collegium’s proposal to transfer the judge to Allahabad High Court, saying that it was routine transfer proposal which has not been finalized yet. Media reports had claimed that collegium decided to transfer the judge due to the allegations against him.
The apex court in a press release had said that the transfer proposal is independent and separate from the In-house enquiry procedure.
On the other hand, media reports had yesterday claimed that Delhi Fire Chief Atul Garg denied finding cash at the house of Justice Yashwant Varma after a fire was doused on Holi eve. Today Garga denied making any such statement, confirming that he never said that firefighters didn’t find cash at the house.
