3 min readNew DelhiJan 15, 2026 03:12 PM IST
First published on: Jan 15, 2026 at 01:24 PM IST
Disputing claims of discovery of cash at his official residence in Delhi during an accidental fire in March last year, Allahabad Justice Yashwant Varma has told a Lok Sabha-appointed committee examining the impeachment motion against him that he was not in the Capital that day and could not be faulted if officials failed to secure the site.
Sources in the know of the matter said Justice Varma told the three-member committee headed by Supreme Court judge Justice Aravind Kumar that the police and fire department officers present as first responders had failed to take the required action.
According to the source, Justice Varma substantially took the same stance as he had before in his response to the in-house inquiry committee appointed by the then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, and in proceedings before the Supreme Court.
Justice Varma is learnt to have said that there is no record of any recovery being made from the site of the fire, which was the outhouse, which is clearly separate from the part where he resides and is close to the CRPF barracks, and as such was accessible to many others.
There was also no CCTV footage that would lend credence to the allegations, he submitted.
Justice Varma landed in controversy following allegations of cash being found at his residence during the fire on the night intervening March 14 and 15.
On March 20, the SC Collegium proposed that Justice Varma, then a judge of the Delhi High Court, be transferred to Allahabad. On March 22, the Chief Justice constituted a three-member committee to investigate allegations against the judge.
The in-house inquiry panel found credence in the allegations against Justice Varma, which were then forwarded to the President and Prime Minister for further action.
Justice Varma challenged the constitutionality of the in-house inquiry before the SC, but on August 7, 2025, a two-judge bench dismissed it, finding no procedural deviation.
Motions to impeach him were subsequently introduced in both Houses of Parliament, and the Lok Sabha Speaker appointed the committee under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, to investigate the allegations. The committee also comprises Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava, Chief Justice, Madras High Court, and Senior Advocate B V Acharya.
Justice Varma also challenged the legality of the Parliamentary committee before the SC. A two-judge bench has reserved its decision on his petition.
Reserving its verdict, the SC also refused to grant Justice Varma more time to respond to the notice issued by the parliamentary committee.
Justice Yashwant Varma is learnt to have submitted his resignation to President Draupadi Murmu. (File Photo) 
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