'Cash at judge's home': Justice Varma takes oath in Allahabad HC

Allahabad, April 5 (IANS) Close to the ‘cash at home’ episode in New Delhi, Justice Yashwant Varma took oath as a judge of the Allahabad High Court in a private chamber on Saturday. He will not be assigned any judicial work, for now.

His transfer from Delhi High Court to Allahabad, amid an in-house probe, was cleared by the Central government on March 28.

Justice Varma is embroiled in a controversy surrounding the alleged discovery of a huge pile of burnt cash in the storeroom attached to his bungalow in the national capital after the fire brigade had gone there to douse a blaze on March 14.

Soon after the incident, he denied any wrongdoing, even as investigators collected burnt notes from the scene of the fire, got videos of the firefighting tested at forensic labs and asked Justice Varma and his staff to preserve their phones and call records.

Justice Varma, the second senior-most judge of the Delhi High Court, was taken off judicial work before being sent to Allahabad. His shift to Uttar Pradesh came despite opposition by the bar associations in Lucknow and Allahabad.

A notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice on his transfer said, “In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 222 of the Constitution of India, the President, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, is pleased to transfer Justice Yashwant Varma, Judge, Delhi High Court, to be a Judge of Allahabad High Court.”

The notification came within days of the Supreme Court Collegium, headed by CJI Sanjiv Khanna, recommending to the Centre to repatriate Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court.

Last week, the Supreme Court rejected a petition seeking an FIR against Justice Varma, calling the plea "premature".

Earlier, a statement uploaded on the website of the apex court said, “The Supreme Court Collegium in its meetings held on 20th and 24 March 2025 has recommended repatriation of Justice Yashwant Varma, Judge, High Court of Delhi, to the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad."

While Justice Varma has denied any wrongdoing, CJI Khanna constituted a 3-member committee in the last week of March to conduct an inquiry into the “cash at home” episode.

Earlier, the top court, in a statement, clarified that the proposal for the transfer of Justice Varma to his parent High Court at Allahabad, where he will be the ninth in seniority, is "independent and separate from the in-house enquiry procedure".

--IANS

rch/uk