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 told NDTV Friday afternoon, confirming the Supreme Court had ordered an in-house inquiry into the matter.

Source also said the Supreme Court Chief Justice 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.

READ | Cash Found In Delhi Judge’s Home, Supreme Court Collegium Acts

In doing so, they found the cash and alerted the police. And, as the news ran through official 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.

The controversy has drawn strong comments about the functioning of the Supreme Court Collegium, which is supposed to vet and appoint judges to the High Court and its own benches.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Indira Jaising called on the Collegium to pay serious attention to the issue of corruption in the judiciary, with Mr Sibal, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP, saying, “… this is not something articulated by senior councils and lawyers for the first time…”

VIDEO | On recovery of cash from Delhi High Court judge’s residence, advocate Indira Jaising says, “My approach would be to question the collegium and the way it functions. That was a duty cost upon the collegium to make a full free and frank disclosure of the facts of the case… pic.twitter.com/wLSjflEBlb

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 21, 2025

Ms Jaising, meanwhile, told news agency PTI, “… there was a duty cost upon the Collegium to make a full, free, and frank disclosure of the facts of the case when this matter came to its attention. There is also a duty cast on the Collegium to disclose the amount recovered.”

The matter was also raised in Parliament after the Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP, Jairam Ramesh, sought a response from the Chairperson – Jagdeep Dhankhar, a former lawyer himself.

READ | After Cash Found In Delhi Judge’s Home, Jagdeep Dhankhar Says…

Mr Dhankhar said what bothered him most was that this did not come to light immediately, and called for a “systemic response… which is transparent, accountable, and effective…”

With input from agencies

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The Allahabad High Court has is not a “trash bin”, that court’s Bar Association declared Friday morning, adding another twist to the growing controversy surrounding Justice Yashwant Varma and the recovery of a pile of unaccounted cash – allegedly Rs 15 crore – from his home.

In a letter to the Chief Justice and other judges of the Allahabad High Court, the group opposed Justice Varma’s repatriation, as decided by the Supreme Court Collegium after discovery of the money. The association said it had been “taken aback” by the Collegium’s decision.

“This decision of the Collegium raises a serious question – is the Allahabad High Court a trash bin? This matter becomes important when we examine the current situation… wherein the Allahabad High Court is short of judges… new judges have not appointed for many years.”

The Bar Association also red-flagged the lack of judges in the Allahabad High Court and also questioned, as senior Delhi advocates like Kapil Sibal and Indira Jaising have, the process by which the Collegium appoints new judges.

“It is also of grave concern that while elevating members of the Bar, the Bar was never consulted. Consideration of eligibility appears to be not up to the mark. Something is lacking… which has resulted in corruption and consequently, public’s faith in the judiciary is damaged.”

Justice Yashwant Varma – the Delhi High Court judge who finds himself at the centre of a controversy after unaccounted cash was found at his bungalow in the city over the Holi weekend – was appointed to the court in the city in October 2021. Prior to that he sat at the Allahabad High Court.

Justice Varma was first appointed as an Additional Judge of the Allahabad High Court in October 2014. He took oath as a permanent member of that court two years later, in February 2016.

According to the Delhi High Court website, he was born on January 6, 1969, in Allahabad, now called Prayagraj, in Uttar Pradesh. He read for a B Com (Honours) course at Delhi University’s Hansraj College and was awarded his LL B from Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa University.

Justice Varma enrolled as an advocate in the Allahabad High Court on August 8, 1992.

According to the High Court website, he handled matters relating to the Constitution and labour disputes, as well as laws governing industries and corporations and taxes.

From 2006 till he was appointed to the bench there, he was also the Special Counsel for the Allahabad High Court. Subsequently, he also served as the state’s Chief Standing Counsel.

The current controversy broke after unaccounted cash was found at his Delhi home while the High Court was on its Holi break. The money was found by firefighters called to put out a blaze.

Following this the Supreme Court Collegium decided to transfer Justice Varma back to his parent court, i.e., the Allahabad High Court. Sources said Supreme Court Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna took a very dim view of this matter, and the Collegium sought action to avoid tarnishing the image of the judiciary.

READ | Cash In Delhi High Court Judge’s Home, Supreme Court Collegium Acts

Justice Varma has not yet responded to these events and did not hold court today. His court officials told news agency PTI the judge is “on leave”.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court Chief Justice, DK Upadhyaya, responding to senior advocate Arun Bhardwaj mentioning this matter in his court, admitted he had been left “shaken”.

“Today’s incident has pained many of us. Please take some steps on the administrative side so these incidents do not happen in future and the judicial system is maintained…” Mr Bhardwaj said, to which the Chief Justice said, “Yes, everyone has been shaken and demoralised.”

Also, senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal has urged the Supreme Court to “start looking at how the appointment process (to nominate judges) takes place”.

#WATCH | Delhi | On the Supreme Court Collegium recommending transfer of Justice Yashwant Varma of the Delhi High Court to his parent High Court in Allahabad after an adverse report against him, Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal says, “…The issue of corruption… pic.twitter.com/hPQPqeT57t

— ANI (@ANI) March 21, 2025

“The issue of corruption within the judiciary is very serious… this is not something articulated by senior councils and lawyers for the first time. It has been going on for years,” he said in a video statement.

“The appointment process should be more transparent and carefully done…Corruption is a very serious issue and, despite what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, corruption has increased…”

With input from agencies

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