Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has appointed Advocate Karan Umesh Salvi as a consultant to assist the judges' inquiry committee investigating allegations of corruption against Justice Yashwant Varma, following the recovery of cash during a fire at his residence earlier this year.
On August 12, the Speaker initiated the process to impeach Justice Varma from his position as a High Court judge. A Committee was formed to investigate the discovery of cash at Justice Varma's official residence.The Committee has been constituted under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 and comprises the Supreme Court’s Justice Aravind Kumar, Madras High Court Chief Justice Madan Mohan Srivastav and Senior Advocate BV Acharya.
The panel was set up following a motion supported in the Lok Sabha for initiating impeachment proceedings against Justice Varma.
Salvi, in his role as consultant, will support the Committee in legal research, coordination of proceedings and preparation of the final inquiry report. This report will be submitted to the Lok Sabha and could form the basis for further action, including potential impeachment, if the allegations are substantiated.
Earlier, Advocates Rohan Singh and Sameeksha Dua were also appointed as consultants to assist the committee.An in-house panel constituted by the Supreme Court had earlier indicted the judge and recommended his removal.Pertinently, impeachment proceedings against Justice Yashwant Varma have been initiated following a fire at his residence where a large sum of cash was discovered, leading to a Supreme Court-appointed inquiry committee finding evidence of misconduct. After his plea against the findings was dismissed by the Supreme Court, the Lok Sabha Speaker accepted a motion for impeachment, formed a three-member committee to investigate, and began the process for a parliamentary vote on his removal.
Justice Yashwant Varma also moved the Supreme Court, challenging the in-house panel `findings’. The committee had concluded that he had “tacit or active control” of the store room where wads of cash were found.As for the background of the case, the controversy began on the night of 14 March 2025. At the time, Justice Varma was a judge of the Delhi High Court. Firefighters responded to a fire at his official residence in Delhi. During the firefighting operation, personnel allegedly discovered substantial amounts of burnt and partially burnt currency notes in the storeroom of the bungalow.
When the incident occurred, Justice Varma was out of town with his wife. This triggered an immediate chain of actions within the judiciary. On 20 March, Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, D.K. Upadhyaya, conducted a preliminary inquiry and shared photographs and videos of the cash discovery to then Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna.
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