Lok Sabha Speaker Reconstitutes Panel Probing Justice Yashwant Varma In Cash Recovery Case
The move comes in view of the retirement of Madras High Court Chief Justice MM Shrivastava on March 6.
Published : February 26, 2026 at 3:24 PM IST
New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has reconstituted the three-member committee set up to examine the grounds for the removal of Justice Yashwant Varma of the Allahabad High Court over the recovery of unaccounted cash from his Delhi residence last year.
According to a notification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the committee consists of Justice Aravind Kumar, Supreme Court, Justice Shree Chandrashekhar; Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court and BV Acharya, Senior Advocate in the Karnataka High Court. The committee has been reconstituted with effect of March 6, 2026.
The move comes in view of the upcoming retirement of Madras High Court Chief Justice MM Shrivastava, who is part of the original panel. Justice MM Shrivastava is retiring on March 6.
Justice Varma, who was serving as Delhi High Court judge, is facing removal after burnt unaccounted cash was recovered from his residence after a blaze on March 14, 2025. Burnt bundles of cash recovered from the outhouse of Justice Varma's house caused a nationwide sensation prompting 145 Lok Sabha members and 63 Rajya Sabha members to move impeachment notices in July 2025. The Lok Sabha Speaker subsequently constituted the committee under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 to probe the charges against the judge. The Rajya Sabha had, however declined to move a paralell motion against Justice Varma.
Justice Varma had challenged the legality of the probe committee in the apex court. But the Supreme Court in January rejected Justice Varma's plea challenging the legality of the panel probing him. A Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma of the apex court hearing Justice Varma's plea said “We hold that the petitioner is not entitled to any relief in the present case.”
In his petition, Justice Varma challenged the constitution of the inquiry panel saying that impeachment notices moved simultaneously in both Houses of the Parliament required joint consultation between the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman before constituting the probe committee.
Read More:
