Allahabad Bar Body Reject Justice Yashwant Varma

The transfer of Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma - in whose home a pile of unaccounted cash was found last week - is not the "final step", sources said today, confirming the Supreme Court had ordered an in-house inquiry into the matter.

However, the Allahabad High Court Bar Association has opposed the proposed repatriation of Justice Yashwant Verma. In the strongly-worded letter to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, the bar body said they were not a trash bin and that they were against corruption.

The source also said the CJI Sanjiv Khanna had sought a report from the Delhi High Court Chief Justice, DK Upadhyaya, and also briefed fellow judges in the top court. Based on the outcome of the investigation, Justice Varma may either be asked to resign or be removed from office by Parliament, under Article 124(4) of the Constitution.

Justice Varma - who has not commented yet and is "on leave" for the day - will, meanwhile, be transferred to his parent High Court in Allahabad, the Supreme Court Collegium decided earlier.

The controversy surrounding Justice Varma - appointed to the Delhi High Court in 2021 - broke during Holi last week, when a blaze at his Delhi bungalow had to be put out by firefighters. In doing so, they found the cash and alerted the police. And, as the news ran through tv channels, the Supreme Court was alerted, and the five-member Collegium was convened.

Sources said the Chief Justice took a very serious view of the discovery of the cash and the Collegium concurred, agreeing unanimously on Justice Varma's transfer. There was talk then of Justice Varma being asked to resign.