LI Network
Published on: 27 July, 2025 12:48 IST
Supreme Court to hear on Monday (tomorrow) a petition filed by Justice Yashwant Varma of the Allahabad High Court challenging the validity of an in-house inquiry committee report that found him guilty of misconduct in connection with the recovery of a large sum of cash from his residence.
A bench comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and A.G. Masih is expected to take up the matter.
Justice Varma has also sought to quash the recommendation dated May 8, issued by the then Chief Justice of India, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, advising Parliament to initiate impeachment proceedings against him based on the committee’s findings.
In his petition, Justice Varma has alleged that the inquiry was fundamentally flawed, contending that it impermissibly shifted the burden of proof onto him, compelling him to disprove allegations rather than requiring the committee to establish its claims. He further argued that the proceedings lacked procedural fairness and were influenced by a predetermined narrative. According to him, the timeline of the inquiry appeared designed to rush to a conclusion at the expense of due process.
The inquiry committee’s report concluded that Justice Varma and his family had active or covert control over the store room at his official residence, where a substantial amount of half-charred currency was discovered following a fire on March 14. The panel deemed this conduct serious enough to warrant removal from office.
The investigation, conducted over 10 days by a three-judge panel headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, involved the examination of 55 witnesses and an on-site inspection of the premises affected by the fire.
Following the submission of the report, the then CJI Sanjiv Khanna formally recommended to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi that impeachment proceedings be initiated against Justice Varma.