Cash discovery case: Charges against Justice Yashwant Varma “proved”, says Lok Sabha panel

Justice Yashwant Varma. File

Justice Yashwant Varma. File
| Picture Credit score: PTI

A 3-member inquiry committee constituted by the Lok Sabha Speaker has discovered the fees “proved” in opposition to Justice Yashwant Varma over the invention of money at his official residence, holding that his explanations have been “evasive and unsatisfactory”.

The committee’s report, tabled in each Homes of Parliament on Wednesday, stated Justice Varma had failed to supply a passable clarification relating to the presence, supply or possession of the money discovered within the storeroom of his official residence.

The committee was headed by Supreme Court docket choose Justice Aravind Kumar, with Chief Justice of the Bombay Excessive Court docket, Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, and senior advocate of the Karnataka Excessive Court docket B.V. Acharya being the opposite members.

The panel additionally discovered that materials proof on the web site had not been correctly secured or preserved, and that the evidentiary situation of the storeroom had been disturbed earlier than it was lawfully sealed and inspected.

“Evasive and unsatisfactory“

The committee stated Justice Varma’s clarification didn’t reveal the “candour, transparency and institutional accountability” anticipated of a choose in such circumstances. “It remained evasive and unsatisfactory when examined in opposition to the proof of unbiased official witnesses and corroborative materials,” the committee stated.

In its consolidated findings on the three articles of cost, the panel recorded: “The Committee due to this fact information its closing findings that Articles of costs I, II and III are proved.”

The report, submitted in two volumes, incorporates the oral and documentary proof gathered throughout the inquiry. Earlier, the panel submitted its findings to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in Might.

The inquiry committee was constituted beneath the Judges (Inquiry) Act after allegations emerged following the invention of burnt forex at Justice Varma’s official residence.

A fireplace had damaged out on the residence of Justice Varma, then a choose of the Delhi Excessive Court docket, on the evening of March 14, 2025. Firefighters responding to the blaze allegedly discovered massive portions of burnt forex in a storeroom. Practically 200 MPs subsequently moved a movement looking for his elimination from workplace. 

Additionally learn: Justice Yashwant Varma row: The future of inquiry amid his resignation 

Justice Varma has since resigned, however his resignation has not but been notified by the Union Legislation Ministry. His title continues to seem on the Allahabad Excessive Court docket web site, though the resignation of a choose of the upper judiciary is deemed to be accepted. 

If the resignation is taken as accepted, the elimination proceedings in opposition to Justice Varma would just about change into infructuous.

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