Probe panel submits report on justice Yashwant Varma to Lok Sabha speaker

AThree-member venire go under up by the Lok Sabha utterer Om Birla endure twelvemonth to look into charges against justice Yashwant Varma has submitted its report to the speaker on Monday, the Lok Sabha secretariat said in a statement.Justice Verma tendered his resignation on April 10, a move that was seen as effectively bringing to a close the ongoing parliamentary inquiry into allegations of unaccounted cash found at his official residence in Delhi last year. His resignation, however, has not been accepted by President.“The Judges Inquiry Committee, investigating allegations concerning Justice Shri Yashwant Varma, submitted its report to the Hon’ble Speaker, Lok Sabha Shri Om Birla in Parliament House today. The report, which was presented in accordance with the statutory requirements under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, will be laid before both Houses of Parliament in due course,” the Lok Sabha secretariat said in a statement on Monday.Birla constituted the committee on August 12, 2025, when he admitted the motion seeking the judge’s removal.Two senior parliamentary officials told HT that the judge’s resignation was yet to be accepted and Parliament could act on the probe report.“The content of the report will be revealed once it is submitted to the House in the upcoming monsoon session. We don’t know whether the report found justice Verma guilty. But Parliament can act according to the report as justice Verma’s resignation has not been accepted yet.”The impeachment proceedings against justice Varma arise from the alleged discovery of wads of currency notes at his official residence in Delhi following a fire in March 2025, when he was serving as a judge of the Delhi high court. A Supreme Court in-house inquiry panel subsequently found his explanation unsatisfactory, prompting then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna to recommend action to the Prime Minister and the President.Subsequently, motions seeking the judge’s removal were moved in both Houses of Parliament in July. While the Rajya Sabha motion was not admitted, the Lok Sabha speaker admitted the motion on August 12 and constituted a three-member inquiry committee under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968.Justice Varma was subsequently transferred to his parent Allahabad High Court but without judicial work.Congress Lok Sabha MP and lawyer Manish Tewari wondered whether the impeachment proceedings against him could still proceed after a judge resigned.“It is a question that has to be legally examined. If you look at Justice Soumitra Sen’s case, the Rajya Sabha had impeached him. But before the Lok Sabha took up the proceedings, he had resigned and the impeachment was dropped. So, the issue of Justice Verma, who has resigned — but his resignation has not been accepted — has to be legally and constitutionally examined. Also, I don’t want to guess what is the content of the report,” Tewari told HT.In July 2011, justice PD Dinakaran of Sikkim High Court tendered his resignation while facing impeachment proceedings. Following his resignation, then Vice President Hamid Ansari dissolved the three-member committee that probed alleged corruption charges against him.The three-member committee constituted on August 12 was led by Supreme Court judge Aravind Kumar and comprised chief justice of Madras High Court Manindra Mohan Srivastava and advocate BV Acharya from Karnataka. It was reconstituted in February when chief justice of the High Court of Bombay Shree Chandrashekhar was inducted, replacing justice Srivastava who was due to retire on March 6.