
In Cash-At-Home Case, Justice Varma's 5 Reasons Why He Shouldn't Be Impeached
Justice Yashwant Varma - the ex-Delhi High Court judge likely to be impeached after "piles of burnt Rs 500 notes" were found at his home - has offered the Supreme Court five reasons why he must not be sacked. These include questions over the jurisdiction and authority of an in-house committee - set up by ex-Chief Justice Sanjiv Kumar - to investigate a sitting judge.
Justice Varma argued the committee ignored questions he had raised, and that could speak to his innocence, and denied him a fair hearing. He also argued that neither the Chief Justice nor the Supreme Court had 'power of superintendence', i.e., they cannot take disciplinary action against High Court judges, because their tenure is protected by the Constitution.
The in-house committee red-flagged by Justice Varma consisted of Sheel Nagu, the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court; GS Sandhawalia, the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court; and Karnataka High Court judge Justice Anu Sivaraman.
Justice Varma's Objections
In-house procedure lacked legal sanction -
Justice Varma has argued the three-member committee that investigated him and the recovered burnt piles of cash lacked authority to recommend his removal from office.
In-house panels - a procedure adopted by the Supreme Court in 1999 - are 'administrative in nature', he said, and have a limited function, i.e., they can only act in a fact-finding capacity.
He argued that allowing such committees power to recommend impeachment risks creating an extra-constitutional framework that breaks from Articles 124 and 218 of the Constitution, which outline procedure to remove a judge of the Supreme Court or any High Court.
The Judges (Inquiry) Act, he argued, would have been a better balanced option in this case.
Improper investigative procedure -
Justice Varma further argued the investigation process was flawed from the outset because it began without a formal complaint of wrongdoing against him, and made "sweeping conclusions without concrete evidence'" It relied on the "presumption", he said, that the cash was his.
He said the committee also ignored key questions - 'who placed the cash', 'was the money genuine', and 'what caused the fire' - that are central to establishing his guilt or innocence.
Scraps of burnt Rs 500 notes allegedly found at Justice Yashwant Varma's home.
Finally, Justice Varma also argued the committee had failed to offer him a fair hearing to respond to the allegations and explain the money found on the grounds of his bungalow.
The committee, he said, denied him access to evidence it collected and examined key witnesses in his absence, all of which violate the principle of natural justice.
In earlier and comparable situations judges were granted personal hearings - to explain themselves - before action was taken against them, he said.
Media trial caused damage to reputation -
The discovery of the burnt cash at his home - the money was found on Holi by firefighters trying to put out a blaze that had spread to the outhouse - made national headlines for weeks.
NDTV Explains | How Do You Remove A Sitting Judge? Impeachment Explained
Questions were raised over the sanctity of the judiciary and the possible erosion of public trust, prompting the release of a (partly redacted) initial report into the finding of the money.
Justice Varma has argued the release of that report, and a Supreme Court press release on March 22 that made public the allegations against him, caused irreparable damage to his reputation and career as a judicial officer, and violated his right to dignity.
Visuals from the burnt outhouse on Justice Varma's bungalow grounds.
He also noted that sections of the final report, i.e., the in-house Supreme Court committee, which was meant to be confidential, had been leaked and "misrepresented" by the press.
This aggravated potential damage to his reputation and undermined the sanctity of the investigative process, Justice Varma told the Supreme Court.
Impeachment recommendation is unconstitutional -
Justice Varma also questioned the letter sent by then-Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recommending he be impeached.
Justice Varma - who was transferred back to the Allahabad High Court after the cash was found - has argued the former Chief Justice did not have the power to seek his removal, and that this can only be done by the President of India, as outlined in the above articles of the Constitution.
Not given time to read report -
Finally, Justice Varma also argued then-Chief Justice Khanna did not give sufficient time for him to review the final report. He claimed impeachment was recommended to President Murmu and Prime Minister Modi "within hours" of Chief Justice Khanna getting that report.
Government To Seek Impeachment?
Last week sources told NDTV the government may introduce an impeachment motion against Justice Yashwant Varma during the monsoon session of Parliament, which begins Monday.
The government has been assured of support from the opposition on this topic, sources said.
This was days after the Supreme Court-appointed panel recommended Justice Varma be removed. The panel's 64-page report was accessed by NDTV and these are the operative bits.
The first is on page 60 - "... this committee holds the money/cash was found in the storeroom located within the premises of 30 Tughlaq Crescent... officially occupied by Justice Varma".
The second is on page 59 - "... access to the storeroom was with Justice Varma and his family members, and (was) well-monitored without any outsiders getting access without permission".
No judge in independent India has been impeached, although there have been five it was a possibility. The most recent case was in 2018 and involved ex-Chief Justice of India Deepak Misra, who was accused of administrative misconduct and arbitrary allocation of cases.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Hindu
26 minutes ago
- The Hindu
SC reserves verdict on State government's challenge on Kannada actor's bail
The Supreme Court on Thursday (July 24, 2025) reserved for judgment Karnataka's challenge to a State High Court decision to grant bail to Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa and six others in the Renukaswamy murder case. A Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan orally questioned whether the High Court had traversed beyond the limits of bail jurisdiction and virtually 'dictated an order of acquittal'. The Bench debated whether the High Court indulged in a 'perverse exercise' of discretionary power. The Bench was hearing a plea filed by the State, represented by senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, against the High Court's December 13, 2024 verdict granting bail to Mr. Darshan and co-accused. Mr. Darshan, along with actor Pavithra Gowda and several others, are accused of abducting and torturing 33-year-old Renukaswamy, a fan who allegedly sent obscene messages to Ms. Gowda. The police alleged the victim was held in a shed in Bengaluru for three days and tortured. His body was later recovered from a drain.


The Print
26 minutes ago
- The Print
Gurugram: ED arrests 3 promoters of Universal Buildwell in Rs 1000 crore money laundering case
M/s Universal Buildwell Private Limited is a real estate company, involved in developing residential and commercial properties, including projects like Universal Trade Tower, Universal Business Park, and Universal Aura. The company was placed under Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) in 2018. The trio — Raman Puri, Varun Puri and Vikram Puri — who were absconding from court summons for more than seven years, were declared proclaimed offenders in multiple predicate offences and were recently apprehended by the Delhi Police, the ED said in a statement. Gurugram, Jul 24 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Gurugram zonal office, on Thursday claimed to have arrested three promoters and former directors of M/s Universal Buildwell Private Limited, in connection with a money laundering case involving more than Rs 1,000 crore. The accused were produced before a special court in Gurugram on the strength of a production warrant and have been remanded to ED custody till July 29, it said. The case pertains to fraudulent mobilisation of funds from homebuyers by the three on the basis of false assurances of project completion by 2010 and promised returns from commercial projects. They also allegedly defrauded several financial institutions and entered into fake agreements for personal gain, officials said. The agency said the three raised more than Rs 1,000 crore over 12 years through eight real estate projects in Gurugram and Faridabad, including Universal Trade Tower, Universal Greens, Universal Business Park, Aura, Universal Square, Market Square, The Pavilion and Universal Prime. However, only a portion of the funds was used in the construction, it said. 'The accused are also charged with criminal misappropriation, cheating, forgery and embezzlement of money to acquire properties for their personal gain through fraud. They are under interrogation', an ED official said. The probe was initiated on the basis of more than 30 FIRs registered across Delhi-NCR under various IPC sections, it said. PTI COR OZ OZ This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.


The Print
26 minutes ago
- The Print
Case registered after group tries to ‘blackmail' Rameshwaram Cafe over insect-in-food claim
According to the complaint, the incident occurred on the morning of July 24, when a group of five to seven individuals created a public disturbance, falsely alleging that the food served contained an insect. The Kempegowda international airport police registered an FIR based on a complaint filed by Operations Head of Rameshwaram Cafe. Bengaluru, Jul 24 (PTI) A case was registered on Thursday against a group of individuals for allegedly attempting to malign Rameshwaram Cafe and extort money by staging a false incident of food contamination at its Kempegowda airport outlet. The individuals then threatened to circulate the video on social media unless they were compensated, added the complaint. Shortly after, the team received a phone call demanding Rs 25 lakh in cash to avoid reputational harm to the brand, stated the complaint. Rameshwaram Café management have submitted call records, message screenshots, and other documentation to the police, requesting immediate legal action against the blackmail attempt. The case was registered under section 308 (2) and 351 (4) of BNS. According to police, a Zero FIR was registered and the case will be transferred to the relevant jurisdiction, as per the address of the complainant at the earliest. A Zero FIR can be registered at any police station, regardless of jurisdiction of the area where a crime took place, and later transferred to the appropriate station for investigation. Meanwhile, in a statement, Divya Raghav, Founder of The Rameshwaram Café, said, 'We categorically deny the baseless accusation that a worm or insect was found in our food.' According to her, the safety and hygiene of food preparation in Rameshwaram Cafe are non-negotiable. 'We operate under the strictest quality protocols, especially at sensitive locations like airports, where routine audits and hygiene checks are mandatory. This is clearly a case of a staged act with malicious intent to extort money and malign our brand,' she added. According to Raghav, there have been similar attempts in the past where in different instances customers have put stones, insects in the food but were caught red-handed. 'We will not succumb to intimidation or blackmail. We are fully cooperating with the authorities and will pursue stringent legal action to ensure such unethical acts are exposed and discouraged,' she added. PTI JR ROH This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.