Shreya Gupta
On April 2, 2025, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed before the Allahabad High Court. The petition seeks to halt the administration of oath to Justice Yashwant Varma. He was recently transferred from Delhi to Allahabad. His transfer occurred while he was facing an in-house probe regarding allegations of possessing illicit cash.
The petition, filed by advocate Vikash Chaturvedi through Advocate Ashok Pandey, asserts that Justice Varma’s transfer and subsequent oath-taking violate constitutional principles. The petitioner has questioned the legitimacy of the oath-taking ceremony, given that the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Sanjiv Khanna, had directed the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court not to assign any judicial work to Justice Varma. The petition specifically raises concerns about the purpose of administering an oath when the judge in question has been stripped of judicial responsibilities.
Furthermore, the plea argues that the oath taken by a judge mandates the faithful discharge of judicial duties, and if Justice Varma is to be denied work post-oath, the process becomes constitutionally meaningless. The petitioner contends that a judge cannot be deprived of work unless formally removed from office by a Presidential order. However, the PIL clarifies that if the Allahabad High Court intends to allocate judicial work to Justice Varma like other judges, the petitioner has no objection to his oath-taking ceremony. The petition also challenges the authority of the Chief Justice of India in this matter, asserting that the High Court Chief Justice, as the master of the roster, has the exclusive responsibility of assigning work to judges, making the CJI’s directive to withhold work from Justice Varma questionable.
In addition to challenging the oath-taking, the petitioner has sought the quashing of Justice Varma’s transfer from Delhi to Allahabad. The controversy surrounding Justice Varma arose after a fire broke out at his residence on 14th March, 2025, which inadvertently led to the recovery of unaccounted cash by firefighters. Reports suggest that a video of the burnt cash was shared by the Delhi Police Commissioner with the Chief Justice of the High Court. At the time of the fire, Justice Varma and his wife were in Madhya Pradesh, leaving only his daughter and elderly mother at home. Following this incident, the Chief Justice of India initiated an in-house investigation on 21st March, appointing a three-member committee to probe the matter.
Subsequently, the Supreme Court published a report by the Delhi High Court Chief Justice concerning the incident, along with Justice Varma’s response. Following these developments, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended his transfer from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court on 24th March 2025, which was officially notified by the Central government on 28th March. Additionally, the Supreme Court of India instructed the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court not to allocate any judicial work to Justice Varma.
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