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Senior Advocate and Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Vikas Singh on Thursday said the impeachment proceedings against Justice Yashwant Varma should be taken to their "logical end" after a three-member parliamentary inquiry committee found all three charges against the former Delhi High Court judge proved in connection with the recovery of burnt currency notes from a storeroom at his official residence.
Speaking to reporters, Singh said Justice Varma's resignation should not be accepted while the impeachment process remains possible, arguing that allowing him to resign could entitle him to post-retirement benefits. "In my view, now that his resignation has not been accepted, and rightly so, because although he has a right to resign under the Constitution, the resignation takes effect only when the President accepts it. If he is still a judge continuing in office, his impeachment can happen, and this report can be placed before Parliament for discussion and voting on his impeachment on the same day," Singh said. Singh further argued that allowing Varma to receive a pension after being found guilty of misconduct would be inappropriate. "The fact that his resignation has not been accepted can be justified on good grounds because the moment his resignation is accepted, he is entitled to a pension, etc. Whereas, if he is impeached, he completely forfeits his right to a pension," he said. "A judge who has been found guilty by two very high-powered committees of this kind of misdemeanour, if he is permitted to take a pension, it will be a travesty of justice. I think it's high time that the impeachment motion is taken to its logical end and he is impeached from office," Singh added. The three-member inquiry committee, constituted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, comprised Supreme Court Justice Aravind Kumar, Bombay High Court Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Senior Advocate BV Acharya. The committee examined the circumstances surrounding the discovery of burnt, partially burnt and wet currency notes following a fire at Varma's official residence at 30, Tughlaq Crescent, New Delhi, during the intervening night of March 14 and 15, 2025. In its report under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, the panel on Wednesday held that all three articles of charge were proved. The first charge related to the presence of substantial unexplained Rs 500 denomination currency notes on the official premises. The second charge concerned the failure to properly preserve material evidence, while the third related to explanations furnished by Justice Varma, which the committee described as "evasive, incomplete and misleading in effect." The panel said the exact amount of cash could not be quantified as the currency was not seized or inventoried at the time. However, it maintained that this did not undermine its finding regarding the presence of substantial currency. Justice Varma had subsequently been transferred from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court, where he took the oath on April 5, 2025. He resigned from the Allahabad High Court judgeship in April this year. (ANI)
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