Allahabad High Court judge Varma resigns, impeachment halted
Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Varma has resigned following a controversy over burnt cash recovered from his residence, rendering impeachment proceedings infructuous. The case had triggered an inquiry and political action after reports of alleged cash discovery last year
New Delhi: Embattled Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Varma, who was facing heat after wads of burnt currency notes were recovered from his residence here last year, has submitted his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu, rendering the impeachment proceedings against him infructuous.
The purported discovery of a huge stash of cash took place after a fire broke out at the Lutyens’ Delhi residence of Justice Varma, then a Delhi High Court judge, at around 11:35 pm on the night of Holi on March 14, 2025, prompting fire department personnel to rush to the spot and douse the flames.
In a letter sent to the President on April 9, the 57-year-old Justice Varma said he was tendering his resignation with “deep anguish” and that it was an honour to serve the office.
“Your Excellency, While I do not propose to burden your august office with the reasons which have constrained me to submit this missive, it is with deep anguish that I hereby tender my resignation from the office of Judge of the Hon’ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, with immediate effect. It has been an honour to serve in this office,” the resignation letter sent to the President on April 9 said.
The pending impeachment proceedings, intended to remove Varma from office, have become infructuous due to his resignation.
Consequently, a three-member inquiry committee comprising Supreme Court judge Justice Aravind Kumar, Madras High Court Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and senior advocate B V Acharya had been conducting an inquiry, a condition precedent, before an impeachment motion.
Justice Varma’s case saw many twists and turns after he refused to heed the advice of then CJI Sanjiv Khanna to resign following two damning reports of judges.
Left with no option, Justice Khanna wrote to the President to proceed further to impeach Justice Varma.
He was later repatriated from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court.
The top court on January 16 had dismissed Varma’s plea challenging the Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision to admit an impeachment motion and the validity of a panel set up to inquire into corruption charges against him, saying a provision in law cannot be used as a weapon to scuttle parliamentary proceedings.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla admitted a multi-party motion for Justice Varma’s removal on August 12 last year. In an unprecedented move, the apex court on March 22 last year had uploaded on its website an in-house inquiry report, including photos and videos, into the alleged discovery of a huge stash of cash at the residence of Justice Varma.
On March 22, 2025, then CJI Khanna had constituted a three-member committee to conduct an inquiry.
Justice Varma had “unequivocally” stated that no cash was ever placed in the storeroom “either by me or any of my family members and (I) strongly denounce the suggestion that the alleged cash belonged to us”.
Justice Varma was enrolled as an advocate on August 8, 1992. He was appointed as an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court on October 13, 2014. High Court judges retire at the age of 62.
He took oath as a permanent judge of the Allahabad High Court on February 1, 2016, before being appointed as a judge of the Delhi High Court on October 11, 2021.
A judge of a constitutional court can only be removed from office through an impeachment motion passed by Parliament.