Cash at Home Row: Justice Varma Resigns on Eve of Key Defence Hearing; What Will Happen To the Probe?

New Delhi: In a dramatic turn that has brought the prolonged controversy surrounding unaccounted cash discovered at his residence to an abrupt end, Justice Yashwant Varma of the Allahabad High Court submitted his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday, just as he was scheduled to begin presenting his defence before a parliamentary inquiry committee.

The resignation letter, dated April 9, stated in measured terms: “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.”

The development comes nearly a year after the scandal erupted on March 14, 2025, when firefighters responding to a blaze at Justice Varma’s official residence in Delhi reportedly recovered a large quantity of half-burnt currency notes from an outhouse. At the time, Justice Varma, then serving on the Delhi High Court, was not present at the property. The incident triggered an in-house inquiry by a Supreme Court-appointed committee, which later concluded that he exercised “secret or active control” over the cash and drew adverse inferences from his conduct, including his failure to immediately inspect the site or report the matter promptly.

Following the in-house panel’s findings, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna reportedly advised Justice Varma to resign or seek voluntary retirement, an offer he declined. The matter then escalated to Parliament, with an impeachment motion admitted in the Lok Sabha. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla constituted a three-member inquiry committee under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, to probe the allegations of misconduct. Justice Varma had mounted several legal challenges, including petitions in the Supreme Court questioning the procedural validity of the committee and seeking to halt the proceedings. Those efforts culminated in a major setback earlier this year when the apex court dismissed his pleas, clearing the path for the parliamentary probe to advance.

Sources said that Justice Varma was slated to formally begin his defence arguments before the committee in the coming days. His sudden resignation, however, is expected to render the ongoing inquiry infructuous, as the constitutional process for removal of a judge typically lapses once the judge demits office.

The case had drawn significant attention across the legal fraternity and political circles, raising broader questions about judicial accountability, the efficacy of in-house mechanisms, and the high threshold for impeaching a judge under the Indian Constitution. Justice Varma, who was transferred back to the Allahabad High Court after the controversy surfaced and took oath there on April 5, 2025, had consistently maintained his innocence, attributing the presence of the cash to external factors and challenging the inferences drawn against him.

With his exit, Justice Yashwant Varma’s judicial career, which included a stint at the Delhi High Court, comes to a premature close. He is now entitled to pension and retirement benefits as a High Court judge, unlike the consequences of a full parliamentary removal, which would have stripped him of such privileges.

The resignation has elicited mixed reactions. While some view it as a graceful exit that spares the institution further prolonged scrutiny, others argue it deprives the public of a conclusive determination on the serious allegations through the parliamentary process.

The President’s office is yet to issue a formal acceptance of the resignation, though it is considered a formality in such cases. The development marks the end of one of the most high-profile judicial controversies in recent years, leaving behind lingering debates on transparency and probity in the higher judiciary.