Govt Transfers Justice Yashwant Varma To Allahabad HC; SC Bars Him From Judicial Work Amid Cash Probe
Delhi High Court Justices Yashwant Varma and CD Singh have been transferred to the Allahabad High Court. Varma's transfer follows the discovery of burnt cash at his residence.
The Union government on Friday issued a transfer order for Justice Yashwant Varma, currently serving as a judge of the Delhi High Court, to the Allahabad High Court. Justice Varma has been directed to assume charge at the Allahabad High Court. Another Delhi High Court judge, Justice CD Singh, has also been transferred to the Allahabad High Court.
The Supreme Court has asked the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court for the time being not to assign any judicial work to Justice Yashwant Varma when he assumes charge as a judge of the High Court.
According to news agency PTI, Justice Varma, embroiled in the cash discovery row, was notably absent from the recently constituted committees of judges on the administrative side of the Delhi High Court. His exclusion follows the discovery of burnt wads of cash after a fire at his official residence in Lutyens’ Delhi on 14 March.
Justice Yashwant Varma Transferred Amid Cash Discovery Row
While the Supreme Court maintained that the transfer was an independent decision, Justice Varma—who was the second senior-most judge in the Delhi High Court—was recently recommended for a transfer to his parent Allahabad High Court. Previously, he was a part of several administrative committees. However, a 27 March circular published on the Delhi High Court’s website confirmed that the committees had been reconstituted with effect from 26 March.
The revised committees, numbering 66 in total, include key panels such as Administrative and General Supervision, Grievance Redressal for Advocates, Finance and Budgeting for contingent expenditure sanctions and loss write-offs exceeding ₹5 lakh, as well as Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence. Other Delhi High Court judges, including Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya, are part of these committees, PTI reported.
Earlier, Justice Varma’s judicial work was withdrawn following a directive from the Chief Justice of India (CJI). On 22 March, the CJI constituted a three-member committee to conduct an in-house inquiry into the allegations surrounding the cash discovery. Additionally, he directed the Supreme Court website to upload the inquiry report prepared by Chief Justice Upadhyaya, which included photos and videos of the alleged stash of cash.
Justice Varma, however, has strongly denied any wrongdoing, stating, “No cash was ever placed in the storeroom either by me or any of my family members.”
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