New Delhi, March 12 The three-member committee set up by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to investigate the grounds for the removal of High Court Judge, Justice Yashwant Varma, following the recovery of burnt currency notes from his residence, is expected to submit its report during the monsoon session.
On August 12, 2025, the Speaker constituted the three-member committee to investigate charges against Justice Yashwant Varma after admitting a notice from multiple parties seeking his removal, thereby initiating the impeachment process for the Allahabad High Court judge.
The committee was reconstituted on February 25. While two members – Supreme Court Justice Aravind Kumar and Senior Advocate, Karnataka High Court, B V Acharya – continued to be members of the panel, a new member, Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, has been appointed in place of Madras High Court Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava.
"The committee is likely to submit its report in the next session," a senior official said.
Birla set up the committee after receiving a proposal from 146 Lok Sabha members, including BJP member Ravi Shankar Prasad and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, seeking the removal of Justice Varma on July 21, 2025.
Justice Varma was transferred from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court after burnt bundles of currency notes were found at his official residence in New Delhi on March 14, 2025.
After referring to relevant laws and judgments of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court found the charges against Justice Varma to be of serious nature and followed it up with the "in-house procedure".
Birla had said that an unblemished character and financial and intellectual integrity were the foundation of the trust a common person has in the judiciary.
"The facts connected in the present case point towards corruption and are eligible for action as per Article 124, Article 217 and Article 218 of the Constitution of India. Parliament needs to speak in one voice on this issue and every citizen of this country should send a clear message about its commitment to zero tolerance to corruption," Birla had said.
The Lok Sabha Speaker said he had accepted the proposal and constituted a three-member committee for the removal of Justice Varma from his post in accordance with Section 3(2) of the Judges (Inquiry) Act 1968.
Earlier, then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna had initiated an in-house probe into the allegations and set up a three-member committee in March 2025 to conduct the inquiry.
The committee, comprising Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Karnataka High Court Justice Anu Sivaraman, submitted its report on May 4.
After receiving the report, the CJI asked Justice Varma to resign or face impeachment proceedings.
However, since Justice Varma declined to quit, CJI Khanna forwarded the report and the judge's response on it to the president and the prime minister for his removal.
The Supreme Court had also dismissed Justice Varma's plea against CJI Khanna's recommendation for his removal.
