Justice Yashwant Varma of the Allahabad High Court has submitted his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu, a year after the discovery of large sums of burnt and unburnt cash at his official residence in Delhi.
The resignation comes as Justice Varma faces an ongoing in-house inquiry by the judiciary and the threat of parliamentary removal proceedings, which had been set in motion last year. He was a judge of the Delhi High Court when the discovery was made, after which he was transferred to the Allahabad High Court.
Justice Yashwant Varma of the Allahabad High Court has submitted his resignation to the President. He was earlier transferred from the Delhi High Court back to Allahabad following a controversy over alleged cash discovery at his residence. He took oath on April 5, 2025, and is… pic.twitter.com/KZJNpcLP2a
— ANI (@ANI) April 10, 2026
The scandal erupted on 14 March 2025 when a fire broke out in a storeroom at Justice Varma’s government bungalow on Tughlak Crescent in New Delhi, while he was serving on the Delhi High Court. Firefighters and police officers who responded to the blaze reported seeing stacks of ₹500 notes, some burning, others partially burnt, scattered on the floor. Officials later confirmed to an inquiry committee that the cash was found in a room under the judge’s control.
Following the incident, the Supreme Court constituted an in-house panel, which concluded that cash had indeed been discovered and that Justice Varma exercised “covert or active control” over the storeroom. He was promptly transferred back to his parent court, the Allahabad High Court, in late March 2025. He took the oath of office there on 5 April 2025, but was not assigned any judicial work.
Justice Varma initially refused calls to resign in May 2025, prompting the Chief Justice of India to recommend his removal. An impeachment motion signed by more than 140 MPs was admitted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in August 2025, and a three-member inquiry committee was formed to examine the charges.
The Supreme Court later dismissed Justice Varma’s challenge to the removal proceedings, clearing the path for Parliament to act. Under Indian constitutional rules, removal by Parliament would have stripped him of his pension and other retirement benefits. By resigning voluntarily, he is expected to retain those entitlements.
