‘Very serious issue’: Calls for greater judicial accountability rise after unaccounted cash found at judge’s residence

Justice Yashwant Varma

Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Kapil Sibal on Friday raised concerns regarding alleged corruption in judiciary and called for transparency in the appointment process of judges. His remarks came after a large amount of cash was found following a fire that broke out at Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma’s residence in Delhi.

"The issue of corruption within the judiciary is a very serious issue. This is not something that has been articulated by senior councils and lawyers in the country for the first time. It has been going on for years. It is time for the Supreme Court to start looking at issues of how the appointment process takes place. The appointment process should be more transparent and carefully done. Corruption is a very serious issue and despite what PM Modi has said the corruption has increased," Sibal told news agency ANI.

#WATCH | Delhi | On the Supreme Court Collegium recommending transfer of Justice Yashwant Varma of the Delhi High Court to his parent High Court in Allahabad after an adverse report against him, Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal says, "...The issue of corruption pic.twitter.com/hPQPqeT57t

ANI (@ANI) March 21, 2025

Additionally, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh raised the issue in Rajya Sabha and sought a response on the incident. He also reminded the Upper House of a notice submitted earlier regarding remarks of a judge of the Allahabad High Court.

"This morning, we have read about a shocking case of huge amounts of cash unearthed at the residence of a judge of the Delhi High Court. Earlier, 50 members of Parliament had submitted a notice to the chairman regarding certain remarks that were made by a judge of the Allahabad High Court. You yourself has repeatedly spoken about the urgency for judicial accountability," Ramesh said in the Rajya Sabha.

"I request that you please make some observations on this and give necessary directions to the government to come up with a proposal for increasing judicial accountability," he added.

Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said in response that he will get in touch with the Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition and find a mechanism for a structured discussion on the issue.

Senior lawyer Indira Jaising also questioned the collegium and asked them to disclose the amount of cash recovered from Justice Varma’s residence.

"My approach would be to question the collegium and the way it functions. That was a duty cost upon the collegium to make a full free and frank disclosure of the facts of the case when they came to the knowledge of the collegium. There is also a duty cast on the collegium to disclose the amount recovered." Jaising told news agency PTI.

VIDEO | On recovery of cash from Delhi High Court judge's residence, advocate Indira Jaising says, "My approach would be to question the collegium and the way it functions. That was a duty cost upon the collegium to make a full free and frank disclosure of the facts of the case pic.twitter.com/wLSjflEBlb Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 21, 2025

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has initiated an in-house investigation against Justice Varma, as per recent media reports. Earlier, the Collegium decided to transfer Justice to his parent Allahabad high court after reports of cash recovery came to light. He was appointed as the judge of Delhi HC in October, 2021.

When the fire broke out last week, Justice Varma was not in the town and his family members called the fire brigade and police. After the fire was brought under control, first responders found a huge amount of cash inside a room. This led to official entries being made about the recovery of the cash pile.