After two meetings, the Supreme Court Collegium on Monday recommended the repatriation of Delhi high court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, who is facing a probe into the alleged discovery of huge stash of cash from his official residence in Delhi after a fire incident, to his parent Allahabad high court.
Hours after the transfer recommendation to the Centre was made public in a resolution uploaded on the website of the top court, the president of the Allahabad High Court Bar Association Anil Tiwari said the high court lawyers will go on an indefinite strike from Tuesday in protest against this move.
Justice Varma's proposed transfer could come into effect after the Centre accepts the recommendation, which came on a day when the Delhi high court in a notice withdrew judicial work from Justice Varma "with immediate effect".
"The Supreme Court Collegium in its meetings held on March 20 and 24, 2025 has recommended the repatriation of Justice Yashwant Varma, Judge, high court of Delhi, to the high court of Judicature at Allahabad," said the resolution adopted by the top court.
In a series of resolutions, it also urged the CJI to allow investigating agencies to take action against Justice Varma besides calling for impeachment proceedings against the judge. The lawyers also abstained from judicial work after the lunch break.
The association further demanded a review of judgements delivered by the judge.
"All the judgements delivered by Justice Yashwant Varma during his tenure of a judge at Allahabad High Court and Delhi High Court be reviewed in order to inspire confidence of people at large to regain public faith in the judicial system."
But some legal experts termed the demand as "preposterous", "premature" and "unjustified".
"So far as the review of all his (Justice Varma) judgements is concerned, it can only be sought by the parties concerned.... this is not open for all," senior advocate Ajit Sinha said.
"I don't agree. It's too premature for anything," said another senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan.
Speaking to mediapersons in Prayagraj, Tiwari referred to a number of resolutions adopted by the AHCBA.
"The High Court Bar Association opposes any proposed transfer of Justice Yashwant Varma to Allahabad High Court or its Lucknow bench or to any other high court," read one resolution.
Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna had constituted a three-member panel to probe the discovery of "four to five semi-burnt sacks" of Indian currency notes after the fire incident. This followed an inquiry report submitted by Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Justice D K Upadhyaya.
The alleged cash discovery happened following a fire at Justice Varma's Lutyens Delhi residence at around 11.35 pm on March 14, prompting the fire officials to rush to the spot and douse it.
The Justice Upadhyaya report contained photos and videos of the cash allegedly discovered at a storeroom at Justice Varma's house during the firefighting operation aside from his response.
Justice Varma has "unequivocally" denied the any cash being placed in the storeroom either by him or any of his family members while "strongly denouncing the suggestion that the alleged cash belonged" to them. He said the allegations of cash discovery from his official residence clearly appeared to be a conspiracy to frame and malign him.
Justice Varma was enrolled as an advocate on August 8, 1992. He was appointed as an additional judge of the Allahabad high court on October 13, 2014.
He took oath as a permanent judge of the Allahabad High Court on February 1, 2016, before being appointed as a judge of the Delhi high court on October 11, 2021.
Justice Varma was heading a division bench, which was dealing with cases of sales tax, goods and services tax, company appeals and other appeals of the original side, when the incident happened.
As the cash discovery row once again brought into focus the Collegium system and the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, which was struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional, it drew sharp reactions from the opposition leaders who demanded a fair probe into the matter. Some MPs suggested that steps be taken to impeach Justice Varma.
The current Collegium system, which came into existence in 1993, has often come under fire for lacking transparency by politicians and some eminent jurists, who contend that the practice of judges appointing judges without any say of the Executive has led to complaints of nepotism and favouritism.
AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said the alleged cash discovery is a big issue and that people's trust in the judiciary has been damaged.
P Sandosh Kumar of the CPI said Justice Varma should be impeached.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar,meanwhile, held a meeting with Leader of the House J P Nadda and Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge on judicial accountability in the wake of allegations of the cash recovery and said they decided to await the outcome of the CJI-appointed in-house inquiry panel before taking up the issue further.
Dhankhar lauded CJI Sanjiv Khanna, saying he has initiated action in a "very impactful, transparent manner".
He said it is for the first time since independence that a Chief Justice has in a transparent, accountable manner put all material available to him in the public domain and shared it without keeping anything with the Court.
"This is a step in the right direction. The Constitution of a committee by the Chief Justice of India and the alertness he has reflected are also a factor that needs consideration.
"Institutions like the Judiciary and the Legislature serve their purpose best when their in-house mechanism is effective, fast and upholds public trust."
In an unprecedented move, the top court, late on Saturday evening, uploaded on its website the inquiry report of Justice Upadhyaya -- complete with photos and videos.
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