SC Collegium recommends for repatriation of Justice Varma to Allahabad HC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Monday recommended the repatriation of Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma to his parent Allahabad High Court.

Justice Varma has been in the eye of a storm over the alleged discovery of a cash pile at his official residence here during a fire incident on the night of March 14-15.

The CJI had earlier set up a three-judge committee for an in-house inquiry against Justice Varma. He had also asked Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya to withdraw judicial works from the judge with immediate effect.

Justice Varma is currently the second senior-most judge in the Delhi High Court and a member of the high court's Collegium.

Upon repatriation, he will be ninth in seniority in the Allahabad High Court.

The proposal to transfer him to his parent high court was first examined on March 20 by the Collegium, comprising the CJI and four other senior-most judges of the Supreme Court.

Notably, the Allahabad High Court's Bar Association had earlier opposed the move to shift Justice Varma, saying the court was not a "trash bin". 

In his response to the alleged incident, Justice Varma categorically denied recovery of any cash and termed the whole episode as a "conspiracy" to malign his reputation.