Cash row: LS Speaker reconstitutes 3-member panel to probe Justice Varma

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has reconstituted the three-member inquiry committee tasked with examining allegations against Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, who has been at the centre of controversy since burnt cash was discovered in March last year in an outhouse of his official residence, allotted to him while he was serving in the Delhi High Court.

As per a notification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat on Wednesday, the reconstituted committee will comprise Justice Aravind Kumar of the Supreme Court as Chairperson, Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, and senior advocate B.V. Acharya of the Karnataka High Court.

The notification clarified that the reconstituted panel will come into effect from March 6, 2026. The move follows the scheduled retirement of Madras High Court Chief Justice Maninder Mohan Shrivastava, who was part of the original three-member committee constituted in August 2025 after impeachment notices were moved against Justice Varma in Parliament. In his place, Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, has been inducted into the panel, while the Chairperson, Justice Aravind Kumar of the Supreme Court, and senior advocate B.V. Acharya will continue as members.

Justice Varma has been at the centre of controversy since burnt cash was allegedly discovered on March 14, 2025, in an outhouse at his official residence allotted to him during his tenure as a judge of the Delhi High Court.

Notices of impeachment, backed by 145 Lok Sabha members and 63 Rajya Sabha members, were moved in both Houses of Parliament in July 2025. Subsequently, the Lok Sabha Speaker constituted a three-member inquiry committee under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, to examine the charges.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court rejected a plea filed by Justice Varma challenging the Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision to constitute the inquiry committee.

Pronouncing the operative part of the verdict, a Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma of the apex court held: “We hold that the petitioner is not entitled to any relief in the present case.”

Justice Varma had questioned the constitution of the inquiry panel on procedural grounds, contending that impeachment notices moved simultaneously in both Houses required joint consultation between the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman before constituting the probe committee.

Justice Varma had earlier also challenged the findings of a three-member in-house inquiry committee constituted by the Supreme Court, which concluded that he exercised “secret or active control” over the cash allegedly recovered from the premises.

The apex court dismissed that challenge as well, concluding that the in-house procedure was “fair and just” and did not compromise judicial independence.

Based on the in-house inquiry report, then Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna had recommended initiation of removal proceedings, leading to the constitution of a parliamentary inquiry committee whose composition has now been revised.

IANS