Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma has rejected allegations that cash was recovered from his official residence in Delhi during a fire incident last year, telling a parliamentary committee probing his impeachment that he was not present in the city at the time of the incident.
According to sources familiar with the proceedings, Justice Varma appeared before the three-member inquiry committee constituted under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, and argued that he could not be held responsible for any lapses by authorities who first reached the spot. The committee is headed by Supreme Court judge Justice Aravind Kumar.
Justice Varma reportedly maintained that police and fire department officials failed to follow proper protocol after the fire broke out in March last year. He reiterated the position he had earlier taken before an in-house inquiry panel and the Supreme Court.
The judge is understood to have told the committee that no official record exists to establish that any cash was recovered from the site of the fire. He also pointed out that the blaze occurred in an outhouse located away from his residential quarters. The structure, he said, was close to CRPF barracks and accessible to several individuals. He further noted that there was no CCTV footage to substantiate the allegations.
Justice Varma first came under scrutiny after reports claimed that cash was discovered at his Delhi residence following a fire on the intervening night of March 14 and 15. Shortly after, on March 20, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended his transfer from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court.
On March 22, the then Chief Justice of India, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, constituted an in-house committee to examine the allegations. The panel later found substance in the claims and forwarded its findings to the President and the Prime Minister for further action.
Justice Varma subsequently challenged the validity of the in-house inquiry before the Supreme Court. However, on August 7, 2025, a two-judge bench dismissed his plea, ruling that the inquiry had followed due procedure.
Following this, impeachment motions were moved in both Houses of Parliament. The Lok Sabha Speaker then appointed a statutory inquiry committee to investigate the matter. Besides Justice Aravind Kumar, the panel includes Madras High Court Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and senior advocate B V Acharya.
Justice Varma has also questioned the legality of the parliamentary committee before the Supreme Court. While reserving its verdict on his petition, the apex court declined to grant him additional time to respond to the committee’s notice.
