Justice Yashwant Varma has refused to resign as a High Court judge, despite being indicted by an in-house committee that investigated the discovery of cash at his official residence in Delhi.

Sources say that Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna asked Justice Varma to step down after receiving the report from the in-house committee. CJI Khanna also warned that failure to resign would lead to impeachment proceedings.

However, Justice Varma chose not to resign. As a result, CJI Khanna forwarded the report, along with Justice Varma's response, to the President of India and the Prime Minister, seeking the judge's removal.

This action follows the procedure set for such cases. The CJI is required to report to the President and Prime Minister when a judge refuses to resign after being found guilty by an inquiry panel.

Now, the government and parliament must take action to begin the impeachment process.

The three-member committee that investigated Justice Varma consisted of Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia, and Karnataka High Court Justice Anu Sivaraman. The committee started its probe on March 25 and submitted its report to CJI Khanna on May 4.

A fire broke out at Justice Varma’s house on March 14. Firefighters reportedly found unexplained cash at the scene. At the time, Justice Varma and his wife were not in Delhi as they were travelling in Madhya Pradesh. Only his daughter and elderly mother were at home when the fire started.

A video later emerged showing bundles of cash burning in the fire.

This incident led to corruption charges against Justice Varma. He denied the charges, saying that it was a conspiracy to frame him. In response, CJI Khanna ordered an in-house probe and established the three-member committee on March 22.

The Delhi Police Commissioner shared the video of the charred money on social media and sent it to the Chief Justice of the High Court. The Supreme Court released the video and, for the first time, published a preliminary report from the Delhi High Court Chief Justice on the incident, along with Justice Varma's reply.

After the allegations, Justice Varma was repatriated to his parent court, the Allahabad High Court, where he had recently taken the oath of office. However, the CJI temporarily suspended him from his judicial duties.

The Allahabad High Court Bar Association had previously gone on strike to protest Justice Varma’s repatriation.

In light of the ongoing in-house investigation, the Supreme Court declined to entertain a plea for the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Justice Varma.

Soon after the investigation began, Justice Varma reportedly consulted a team of senior counsel for legal advice.