Justice Yashwant Varma cash row: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla constitutes 3-member panel to probe allegation

As soon as the House reassembled at noon, Birla announced that he has received notice of the resolution dated July 21 “signed by a total of 146 members of the ruling and opposition parties” who had proposed “to present a representation to the President of India for removal of Justice Yashwant Verma, a sitting Judge of the Allahabad High Court, from the office of Judge of the High Court under Section 3 of the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 read with Article 124(4) of the Constitution of India read with Article 217 and Article 218”.

The Judges Inquiry Act deals with the process for removal of a judge of a constitutional court.

Reading out the resolution, Birla said, “This House resolves that a petition be presented to the President for the removal of Justice Yashwant Varma of the Allahabad High Court from his office for the following misconduct.”

The resolution then referred to the public statement from the Supreme Court regarding the recovery of unexplained cash following a fire at Justice Varma’s residence at 30, Tughlaq Crescent in New Delhi, on March 15, 2025. Justice Varma was then a Judge of the Delhi High Court.

The resolution also referred to the report sent by the then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna to President Droupadi Murmu, which held Justice Varma responsible for “misconduct”.

Quoting from the resolution, Birla stated, “Impeccable character and financial/ intellectual integrity are the foundation of the trust placed by a common man in the judiciary. And that the facts of the present case which point to corruption are violative of the tenets of Article 124, Articles 217 and 218 of the Constitution of India and deserve due process and scrutiny. The Parliament must speak with one voice on the subject and send a clear message to every citizen of the country about its resolve for (zero-tolerance) towards corruption in public life.”

Birla said, “Finding this proposal to be in accordance with the rules, I have approved it. In accordance with sub-section 2 of section 3 of the Judges (Judges) Act, 1968, I have constituted a committee consisting of the following 3 members to examine the grounds of request for removal of Justice Yashwant Verma from the post.”

The 3 members

Of the three members on the probe committee, Justice Aravind Kumar was appointed to the Supreme Court in February 2023, with a tenure set to continue till July 2027. He was earlier the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court.

Starting in 1987 as a trial court lawyer, Justice Kumar was appointed as an Assistant Solicitor General of India in 2005. Elevated as a judge of the Karnataka High Court in 2009, he served there for nine years before becoming the Chief Justice of the High Court of Gujarat in 2021.

Justice Kumar has spearheaded initiatives in the field of education, and was instrumental in setting up ‘signal schools’ for children begging at traffic signals during his stints in both Karnataka and Gujarat High Courts.

In the Supreme Court, he authored a judgment issuing guidelines for lower courts to curb the pendency of cases, setting timelines for serving summons promptly, wrapping up written statements within 30 days, and encouraging alternative dispute redressal systems.

Justice Shrivastava’s judicial career began with his appointment to the Chhattisgarh High Court in 2009. In 2021, he was transferred to the Rajasthan High Court, where he served as Acting Chief Justice thrice before being appointed as permanent Chief Justice in February 2024. In July 2025, he was transferred as Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.

In the Rajasthan High Court, Justice Shrivastava was part of a Bench that directed the state to provide reservations for transgender persons in public appointments. In another key ruling, he ordered the reinstatement of Ayurvedic doctors, equating their retirement age with that of their Allopathic counterparts. He also took a firm stance on judicial discipline, holding that strikes by bar associations were unlawful.

During his time in the Chhattisgarh High Court, he ruled that bail should ordinarily be granted to juveniles under the law. If not elevated to the Supreme Court, Justice Shrivastava is due to retire in March 2026.

Senior advocate Acharya was the former Advocate General of Karnataka. The 93-year-old veteran has had a legal career spanning over six decades, having joined the Bar in 1957. In December 1989, he was designated a senior advocate and months later, appointed as the highest-ranking law officer in Karnataka, a post he held for five terms.

Acharya’s most challenging role, however, was as a Special Public Prosecutor in the disproportionate assets case against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha. Appointed by the Supreme Court, he conducted the trial in the politically sensitive case from 2004 to 2012. In 2012, he resigned from the post, citing political pressure to remove him. In 2014, the trial court acquitted Jayalalitha, which was confirmed by the High Court in 2015.

In 2016, Acharya was reinstated as Special Public Prosecutor in the case following Supreme Court orders, and ensured Jayalalithaa’s conviction. —(With ENS)