New Delhi:
The transfer of Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma is not linked to the alleged recovery of a large stash of cash at his home, the Supreme Court said today. It said the in-house investigation is being done as per the procedure prescribed by the Supreme Court, and the transfer has nothing to do with the investigation.
The Supreme Court flagged “misinformation and rumours” as the reasons why Justice Varma’s transfer to Allahabad High Court was linked to the cash recovery.
“There is misinformation and rumours being spread with regard to the incident at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma… On receiving the information, the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court commenced the in-house enquiry procedure collecting evidence and information,” the Supreme Court said in a press note.
The top court confirmed the “reported incident” happened in Delhi.
The Delhi High Court Chief Justice, who began the inquiry before the Collegium met on Thursday, will give a report today to the Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, the Supreme Court said. “The report will be examined and processed for further and necessary action.”
It said the proposal for transfer of Justice Varma, who is the second senior-most judge in the Delhi High Court and a member of the Collegium, to his parent high court i.e. the Allahabad High Court, is independent and separate from the in-house enquiry procedure.
Justice Varma will be the ninth in seniority in the Allahabad High Court.
“The proposal was examined by the Collegium comprising of the Chief Justice of India and four senior most Judges of the Supreme Court on 20th March 2025, and thereafter letters were written to the consultee Judges of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justices of the High Courts concerned and Mr. Justice Yashwant Varma,” the Supreme Court said in the press note.
The allegation that a huge pile of cash was found at Justice Varma’s home surfaced soon after a fire incident at his property. Firefighters reached there and controlled the blaze, and that was when they allegedly saw the cash pile.
