The report of a parliamentary inquiry committee that investigated allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma, following the alleged discovery of unaccounted cash at his official residence, will be placed before the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
According to the Lok Sabha’s list of business for Wednesday, the secretary general will lay the committee’s two-volume report, along with the oral evidence recorded during the inquiry, before the House.
The development comes months after the three-member panel submitted its findings to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in May.
Birla had constituted the three-member Judges Inquiry Committee on August 12, 2025, to investigate the allegations against Justice Varma.
The controversy dates back to March 14, 2025, when a fire broke out at Justice Varma’s official residence in Delhi. Firefighters who reached the bungalow to extinguish the blaze allegedly found large quantities of burnt currency in a storeroom.
The matter subsequently triggered an in-house judicial inquiry and demands for Justice Varma’s removal.
The committee’s report will now be placed before the Lok Sabha in accordance with the statutory requirements of the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968.
Justice Varma was then serving as a judge of the Delhi High Court. Following the controversy, he was repatriated to his parent court, the Allahabad High Court.
An in-house committee set up by then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna investigated the episode and concluded that Justice Varma had “active or tacit control” over the storeroom where the cash was allegedly found.
The controversy subsequently reached Parliament. In July 2025, more than 200 MPs signed a motion seeking the judge’s removal.
A month later, the Lok Sabha Speaker constituted the three-member inquiry committee to examine the charges against him.
Justice Varma, however, resigned as a judge of the Allahabad High Court while facing the prospect of removal by Parliament. His resignation has effectively rendered the parliamentary removal proceedings infructuous.
The resignation has yet to be formally notified by the Union Law Ministry.
People familiar with the procedure for the appointment and removal of Supreme Court and high court judges said that, according to a Supreme Court judgment, a judge is deemed to have resigned after submitting the resignation to the President and circulating a copy of it publicly.
Unlike some other constitutional processes, a judge’s resignation does not require acceptance by the President to take effect, according to this interpretation.
Under the procedure, the President subsequently gives formal acceptance, after which the Department of Justice under the Law Ministry issues a notification.
Despite Justice Varma’s resignation and the removal proceedings becoming virtually infructuous, the inquiry committee’s findings are being brought before the Lok Sabha as required under the statutory process.
The tabling of the two-volume report on Wednesday will formally place before Parliament the findings of the committee constituted to investigate one of the most significant controversies involving a sitting high court judge in recent years.