LS Speaker to consult leaders before taking call on Justice Varma

• A three-member panel finds charges against Justice Yashwant Varma over the discovery of cash at his official residence proved.

• Justice Varma has resigned, but the resignation has not yet been formally notified by the law ministry.

• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla says he will consult political parties and examine the rules before deciding the next course of action.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday, 4 November said he would consult leaders of political parties and examine the rules governing the impeachment process against Justice Yashwant Varma, after a parliamentary inquiry panel found him guilty of charges relating to the discovery of cash at his official residence.

A three-member committee constituted by Birla under the Judges (Inquiry) Act found the charges against the judge, including unexplained cash, disturbing evidence and evasive explanations, to be 'proved'. Its report was submitted to both Houses of Parliament in August.

Justice Varma has since tendered his resignation as a judge of Allahabad High Court, but the law ministry has yet to notify its acceptance. His name continues to figure in the list of judges of the high court.

"We will examine the rules and consult leaders of political parties before deciding on the future course of action," Birla told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram.

The parliamentary inquiry panel was constituted after nearly 200 MPs from different political parties, belonging to both the ruling and Opposition alliances, pressed for Justice Varma's removal through Parliament.

On the status of the resignation letter submitted by the Allahabad High Court judge, sources said resignations tendered by high court and Supreme Court judges were normally treated as having been accepted. However, in Justice Varma's case, the resignation came only after Parliament had initiated the removal process. Consequently, its acceptance has not yet been notified.

The controversy dates back to the night of 14 March 2025, when a fire broke out at Justice Varma's official residence in Delhi. Firefighters called to douse the blaze allegedly discovered large quantities of burnt currency notes in a storeroom.

Following the discovery, Justice Varma was repatriated from Delhi High Court to Allahabad High Court.

After examining the relevant laws and Supreme Court judgments, the then Delhi High Court chief justice concluded that the allegations against Justice Varma were serious in nature and initiated the prescribed 'in-house procedure'.

The then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna subsequently initiated an in-house inquiry into the allegations and constituted a three-member committee in March 2025 to investigate the matter. After receiving the committee's report, Khanna asked Justice Varma to resign or face impeachment proceedings.

When the judge declined to step down, the CJI forwarded the inquiry report, along with Justice Varma's response, to the President and prime minister, recommending his removal.

Birla had constituted a separate three-member parliamentary committee in August last year to examine the charges against Justice Varma after admitting a multi-party notice seeking his removal. This set in motion the impeachment process against the Allahabad High Court judge.

The speaker had emphasised that unimpeachable character, financial integrity and intellectual integrity were the foundations of the trust that ordinary citizens repose in the judiciary.

With PTI inputs