Supreme Court's In-House Inquiry Committee Confirms Presence Of Cash At Justice Yashwant Varma’s Residence, Asks To Resign

The investigation committee, formed after the discovery of money during a fire at High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma’s residence, has presented its report to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, India Today reported.

The internal committee regarding Justice Yashwant Varma affirmed the finding of cash, and a copy of this confirmation was forwarded to Justice Varma.

A copy of the report has been forwarded to the judge in question. It is reported that Justice Yashwant Varma has been allotted a two-day period to respond to the findings.

This action has been carried out based on the principles of natural justice to guarantee that Justice Varma has been provided a fair opportunity to reply before any additional steps are taken.

Justice Varma has been presented with the choice to step down from his position as a judge of the Allahabad High Court. If he declines to do so, it may be necessary to commence the impeachment process.

By the week's end, Justice Varma is anticipated to present his response to the CJI.

CJI Khanna, who is set to retire next week, plans to decide on future actions before he steps down from his position. This is anticipated to be one of the final significant decisions made by the departing Chief Justice.

Before the proceedings on Monday (5 May), the CJI convened a meeting with the Supreme Court judges. It is probable that the findings of the report were communicated to the judges during this gathering.

A fire erupted at Justice Varma's home in Delhi on 14 March. Responding firefighters reportedly discovered a significant quantity of charred money in a storage room. This incident, coupled with videos of the scorched cash appearing online, sparked accusations of corruption.