‘Cash discovery’ from judge’s residence: Allahabad HC lawyers suspend strike till inquiry report comes

Lawyers during the second day of their indefinite strike over Justice Yashwant Varma’s transfer to the Allahabad High Court, in Prayagraj, on March 26, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Lawyers of the Allahabad High Court, agitating since Tuesday against the transfer of Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma to the Allahabad High Court, suspended their strike on Saturday (March 29, 2025) till the report of an investigation against the judge comes.

The lawyers said they have also decided not to attend Justice Varma’s oath-taking ceremony.

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After a meeting of the executive committee of the high court’s bar association here, its president Anil Tiwari told reporters, “We have decided to suspend the strike till the report of the investigation against Justice Varma comes.” He clarified that the strike has not been called off. “We will wait for the three-member inquiry committee’s decision. We request the chief justice of India to make the report of the committee public. As soon as we get the report, we will have a meeting and take a decision accordingly,” he added.

Mr. Tiwari also said the lawyers will not attend Justice Varma’s oath-taking ceremony.

“He took the same oath in Delhi…. All judicial work has been withdrawn from Justice Varma till the investigation report comes. We do not want to harm litigants by continuing the strike further. In such a situation, we are suspending the strike,” he said.

Mr. Tiwari said they have decided to hold a national-level conference for which the presidents of 22 high court bar associations have been contacted.

“Legal experts from across the country will participate in the National Conference on Judicial Accountability and Transparency to be held on April 26 and 27 in Prayagraj,” he said.

Meanwhile, lawyers abstained from judicial work in the Varanasi district court on Saturday in protest against Justice Varma’s transfer to the Allahabad High Court and alleged corruption in the district court. They took out a procession on the court premises and raised slogans.

Advocate Vikas Singh said they raised slogans against the alleged corrupt practices going on in the Varanasi district court complex and Justice Varma’s transfer to the Allahabad High Court.

The Supreme Court on Friday said the chief justice of the Allahabad High Court has been asked not to assign any judicial work for now to Justice Varma, who is embroiled in a cash-discovery row, upon assuming charge.

On March 24, the apex court collegium recommended Justice Varma’s repatriation to his parent Allahabad High Court. The Delhi High Court had previously withdrawn work from the judge following a directive from the CJI.

The government notified Justice Varma’s transfer to the Allahabad High Court on Friday.

The order came amid a controversy surrounding the purported discovery of burnt wads of cash from the judge’s official residence in Delhi after a fire incident.

The Law Ministry issued a notification announcing Justice Varma’s transfer.

Recommending his repatriation to the government, the Supreme Court collegium had said the move was separate from an in-house probe ordered by the top court over the alleged discovery of cash from the judge’s Lutyens’ Delhi residence after a fire incident at around 11:35 pm on March 14.

On March 22, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna constituted a three-member committee to conduct the in-house inquiry into the allegations against the judge and decided to upload Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya’s report in the matter on the apex court’s website. The report included photos and videos of the alleged discovery of a huge amount of cash from Justice Varma’s residence.

Justice Varma denounced any insinuation and said no cash was ever placed in the storeroom of his residence either by him or any of his family members.