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Judges panel finds Justice Varma charges proved
Times of India··14 Aug
A statutory inquiry committee tabled in Parliament on August 12 found all three charges against Justice Yashwant Varma proved. It said substantial unexplained 500 rupee notes were at his official Delhi residence after a March 2025 fire, material evidence was not preserved, and his explanations were evasive. The 123 page report is not a criminal judgment.
Prism
What It Means For You
- If you follow judicial accountability, Parliament now has a statutory finding that all three charges against Justice Varma are proved, short of a criminal conviction.
- Readers can separate three points the panel refused to make: how much cash, who owned it, and whether the judge himself carried notes away.
- Anyone watching removal procedure can see this report sitting after Varma declined to resign on the in-house committee's advice.
What's Happening
- Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's three-member committee tabled its report in both Houses on August 12.
- The fire was on the night of March 14-15, 2025, at 30 Tughlak Crescent, then Justice Varma's official bungalow as a Delhi High Court judge.
- The committee found unexplained notes in a storeroom, disturbance of the scene before sealing, and later non-availability of the currency.
What Happened to the Notes After the Fire
- The panel included Supreme Court judge Aravind Kumar, then Bombay High Court Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, and senior advocate B V Acharya.
- A gate witness, C G Rawat, said private secretary Rajinder Karki and staffer Mohd Rahil cleaned the site after the fire; call records showed contact with Varma around that time.
- The committee also recorded that police present did not seize the notes or draw a panchnama, a lapse it linked to the absence of clear instructions on the spot.
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