New Delhi, April 10 Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Varma, who was facing scrutiny after large sums of burnt currency notes were recovered from his residence here last year, has submitted his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu, rendering any impeachment proceedings against him futile.
The alleged discovery of a large sum of cash took place after a fire broke out at the residence of Justice Varma, then a judge of the Delhi High Court, in Lutyens' Delhi at around 11:35 pm on the night of Holi, March 14, 2025, prompting fire department personnel to rush to the scene and extinguish 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 regret" and it was an honor to serve in the office.
"Your Excellency, While I do not intend to burden your esteemed office with the reasons that have compelled me to submit this letter, 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 honor to serve in this office," the resignation letter sent to the President on April 9 stated.
The impeachment proceedings, intended to remove Varma from his office, become futile due to his resignation.
Consequently, a three-member inquiry committee comprising Supreme Court Judge Justice Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Manindra Mohan Shrivastava, and senior advocate B V Acharya was conducting an inquiry, a prerequisite before an impeachment motion.
Justice Varma's case saw many twists and turns after he refused to heed the advice of then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna to resign following two damning reports on 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 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 obstruct 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 an in-house inquiry report, including photos and videos, into the alleged discovery of a large sum of cash at the residence of Justice Varma.
On March 22, 2025, then Chief Justice of India 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.
