Justice Yashwant Varma
Credit: Allahabad High Court
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Collegium, led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, met on Thursday evening and decided to transfer Delhi High Court judge, Justice Yashwant Varma, to his parent Allahabad High Court, reportedly on the basis of an adverse report in connection with the recovery of cash during a fire at his residence here.
CJI Khanna sought a fact-finding report from Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya. Following the development, the Collegium unanimously resolved to recommend the transfer, sources said.
The Collegium acted after the members were apprised of a video purportedly of burning cash at the residence of Justice Varma. Sources, however, said that there was no estimate of the quantum of cash at the residence of the judge.
The Collegium members decided to transfer out Justice Varma, after the CJI had explained what had happened.
The Collegium members also suggested to the CJI to try and get the fact-finding report at the earliest, as it will help in taking a decision regarding whether an in-house inquiry could be initiated or not, sources said.
The fire incident occurred on March 14 at about 11:30 pm. Justice Varma was not home when the fire erupted, and fire tenders, police stumbled on the money in a room, while dousing the flames. Justice Varma has not yet responded to the recovery of the cash.
The higher-ups in the police were informed about the incident. The government authorities brought it to the attention of the CJI, who called for a meeting of the Collegium to discuss the matter.
Notably, the Collegium’s resolution regarding the transfer of the judge is yet to be uploaded on the apex court’s website.
According to his profile on the Delhi High Court's website, Justice Verma was born on January 6, 1969, in Allahabad, now Prayagraj. His father was the judge of the Allahabad High Court.
He pursued B Com (Honours) degree course at Hansraj College Delhi University. He was awarded the LLB degree by Rewa University, Madhya Pradesh and thereafter enrolled as an advocate on August 8, 1992.
As an advocate at the Allahabad High Court, he had a varied practice handling matters relating to constitutional, labour and industrial legislations, corporate laws, taxation and allied branches of law. He was the Special Counsel for the Allahabad High Court from 2006 till elevation. He also held the position of Chief Standing Counsel.
He was designated as a senior advocate in 2013.
Justice Verma was appointed as additional judge of the High Court on October 13, 2014. He took oath as the permanent judge on February 1, 2014. He was appointed as a judge of the Delhi High Court on October 11, 2021.