Yashwant Varma quits amid probe
Tainted Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Varma, who is facing impeachment proceedings for his removal over allegations of corruption after wads of burnt currency notes were recovered from his residence in Delhi last year, has resigned. The judge submitted his resignation in a letter sent to President Droupadi Murmu on April 9, marking copy to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.
In his letter, Justice Varma, 57, said he was tendering his resignation with “deep anguish” and that it was an honour to serve the office. “Your Excellency, While I do not propose to burden your august office with the reasons which have constrained me to submit this missive, it is with deep anguish that I hereby tender my resignation from the office of Judge of the Hon’ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, with immediate effect. It has been an honour to serve in this office,” the letter said.
Calling himself a victim of a “vilification” campaign, Justice Varma also wrote a separate letter to the Inquiry Committee appointed by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and expressed his “anguish”. He also listed out reasons for withdrawing himself from the inquiry. The judge said his continued participation would legitimise an earlier inquiry where he was asked to “answer the unanswerable” question on the source of money from his residence.
In his 13-page letter, Justice Varma said that in his entire career as a judge of a High Court for over 11 years, he was not once alleged to have indulged in corruption or judicial impropriety. The judge further said he would be doing himself and the institution the greatest disservice by “continuing to participate in the present proceedings. “I therefore withdraw from these proceedings with immediate effect and have instructed my Advocates accordingly. I withdraw with the deepest sadness, conscious of the gravity of my decision and with the hope that history will one day record the unfairness with which a sitting High Court Judge was treated and that has marked this entire episode from its inception,” Justice Varma wrote.
To prevent his Impeachment by Parliament, a resignation was the only option left for the judge, who withdrew from the ongoing inquiry proceedings by a Lok Sabha-appointed panel. The judge was due to superannuate on January 5, 2031. The discovery of a huge stash of cash took place after a fire broke out at the Lutyens’ Delhi residence of Justice Varma, then a Delhi High Court judge, at around 11:35 pm on the night of Holi on March 14, 2025, prompting the fire department personnel to rush to the spot and douse the flames.
In an unprecedented move, the apex court on March 22 last year had uploaded on its website an in-house inquiry report, including photos and videos, into alleged discovery of a huge stash of cash at the residence of Justice Varma. On March 22, 2025 then CJI Khanna had constituted a three-member committee to conduct an inquiry. A three-member inquiry committee comprising Supreme Court judge Justice Aravind Kumar, Madras High Court Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and senior advocate B V Acharya was conducting the inquiry, a mandatory procedure before an impeachment motion. Justice Varma’s case witnessed many twists and turns after he refused to heed the advice of then CJI Sanjiv Khanna to resign following two damning reports by judges.
Supreme Court on January 16 had dismissed Varma’s plea challenging the Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision to admit an impeachment motion and the validity of a panel set up to inquire corruption charges against him, saying a provision in law cannot be used as a weapon to scuttle parliamentary proceedings. peaker admitted a multi-party motion for Justice Varma’s removal on August 12 last.
