Justice Yashwant Varma, Choose of the Allahabad Excessive Court docket, has withdrawn from the proceedings earlier than the Judges Inquiry Committee constituted by the Lok Sabha to look at the costs towards him in reference to the alleged restoration of money from a storeroom at his official residence.
It could be famous that the transfer has occurred in parallel to he submitting his resignation to the President of India.
The three member Judges Inquiry Committee was constituted final 12 months by the Lok Sabha Speaker beneath the Judges Inquiry Act, 1968. This was after over 100 Lok Sabha MPs moved a movement searching for Justice Varma’s impeachment.
The Committee includes Justice Aravind Kumar of the Supreme Court docket, Justice Shree Chnadrashekhar, CJ of the Bombay Excessive Court docket, and Senior Advocate BV Acharya.
Justice Varma had earlier unsuccessfully challenged earlier than the Supreme Court docket the structure of the Committee final 12 months, questioning the initiation of the inquiry proceedings towards him.
In an in depth 13-page communication addressed to the Committee, Justice Varma expressed “profound anguish” over the course of the proceedings and acknowledged that persevering with within the course of would legitimise what he described as an unfair inquiry. He acknowledged that the proceedings had successfully reversed the burden of proof and denied him an affordable alternative to defend himself.
Justice Varma acknowledged that the incident in query associated to a fireplace that occurred in a storeroom inside his official residence throughout the Holi break in March 2025, when he and his partner have been away on trip in a distant location with restricted connectivity. He mentioned he was knowledgeable concerning the hearth solely after it had been introduced beneath management and that he was not conscious of the alleged discovery of money on the premises till later.
Elevating issues about procedural equity, Justice Varma acknowledged that a number of witnesses who had given testimony beneficial to him have been dropped with out clarification. As recorded within the letter, out of 54 witnesses examined earlier, 27 have been dropped, together with officers from the Delhi Fireplace Providers and Delhi Police, after cross examination allegedly revealed info inconsistent with the allegations.
He additional contended that the inquiry had proceeded on presumptions slightly than proof and had positioned an onerous obligation on him to disprove allegations concerning the possession or placement of money that had by no means been linked to him by means of proof.
Within the concluding portion of the communication, Justice Varma acknowledged that he had, in parallel, addressed a communication to the President of India and that persevering with within the proceedings can be a disservice to each himself and the establishment.
He mentioned the way by which the inquiry was carried out can be judged sooner or later, stating that the episode had marked the remedy of a sitting Excessive Court docket decide and that posterity would assess the equity of the method.
“I subsequently withdraw from these proceedings with instant impact and have instructed my Advocates accordingly.
I withdraw with the deepest unhappiness, aware of the gravity of my resolution and with the hope that historical past will in the future document the unfairness with which a sitting Excessive Court docket Choose was handled and that has marked this whole episode from its inception,” he mentioned.
