The Fire Still Burns: Bombay Lawyers Association seeks Permission from CJI to Prosecute J. Yashwant Varma in Unaccounted Cash Fiasco
More than 2 months since the discovery of alleged unaccounted money at the residence of a Delhi High Court Judge, India is still scrambling for the final word on judicial accountability
The fire that first exposed an alleged cache of illicit cash at the Delhi bungalow of Justice Yashwant Varma refuses to be doused.
In a seven-page representation dated 2 June 2025, the Bombay Lawyers Association (BLA) asked the Chief Justice of India, B.R. Gavai for permission to initiate criminal prosecution and registration of an FIR against Justice Yashwant Varma, who is now placed at Allahabad High Court. BLA has sought to proceed with their case under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
The BLA has referenced the mandate laid down the by Constitution Bench in K. Veeraswami v. Union of India Judgment (1991) which requires prior sanction with the Chief Justice of India before registering a criminal case against a sitting judge of a High Court or Supreme Court.
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It has been contended by the lawyers’ body that the “prima facie evidence of a cognisable offence” flowed from the Supreme Court’s own in-house inquiry into the March 14 blaze that uncovered roughly ₹15 crore in partially burnt currency at Justice Varma’s residence on Tughlak Road.
The plea also recaps how photographs and video sent by the Delhi Police Commissioner prompted then CJI Sanjiv Khanna to set up a three-member panel headed by Punjab & Haryana Chief Justice Sheel Nagu on 22 March to investigate the matter. After Justice Varma declined to resign, the panel’s report was forwarded on 8 May to the President and Prime Minister with a recommendation for impeachment, yet no criminal case or seizure has followed, it notes.
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The Supreme Court had at an earlier occasion, dismissed a petition for compulsory registration of an FIR, deeming it “premature”. Consequently, the decision opened the path to seek sanction to prosecute directly from the CJI.
The BLA referenced an event from 2019 when the CBI was allowed to book Justice S.N. Shukla for alleged corruption; the letter reminds the court that judges remain “public servants” and that equality before law demands parity with ordinary citizens facing disproportionate-asset probes. It therefore requests directions to Delhi Police or the CBI to seize and preserve all relevant evidence, including the partially burnt currency notes, photographs, and video recordings.
As we approach the final chapter of this fiery saga, it goes without saying that the public is increasingly wary about the differences in treatment received by them and those in power. For the legal community, the application is a litmus test of the Supreme Court’s newly professed era of transparency, unveiled last month when all thirty-three judges agreed to publish their assets online in its resolve to confront allegations of corruption within its own ranks.
