Supreme Court Collegium Releases Statement About Repatriation Of Justice Yashwant Varma To Allahabad High Court
The Supreme Court Collegium has made the decision to repatriate Justice Yashwant Varma from the Delhi High Court back to his parent institution, the Allahabad High Court.
This action follows a recent incident where a fire broke out at the judge's residence, reportedly leading to the discovery of a large sum of cash by firefighters. The matter was immediately taken up by the Supreme Court and following an internal review by the Supreme Court Collegium, it was unanimously decided to repatriate Justice Verma to the Allahabad High Court.
After this, the members of the Allahabad High Court Bar Association had questioned whether the Allahabad High Court was now being used as a “trash bin” for judges implicated in corruption, given the chronic shortage of judges and the resultant backlog of cases. The Bar Association has expressed alarm that the current state of affairs is eroding public faith in the judiciary and impairing the rule of law.
The decision was taken after two separate meetings of the Supreme Court Collegium, the first held on March 20, 2025, and the second on March 24, 2025.
A statement dated March 24, 2025 released on the Supreme Court's official website outlined the Collegium's recommendation, which read, “The Supreme Court Collegium in its meetings held on 20th and 24th March 2025 has recommended repatriation of Mr. Justice Yashwant Varma, Judge, High Court of Delhi, to the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad.”
Justice Varma, born in 1969, completed his LLB degree at Rewa University in Madhya Pradesh and began his career as an advocate in 1992. Over the years, he gained significant legal experience, serving as the special counsel for the Allahabad High Court and as the chief standing counsel for the State of Uttar Pradesh. In 2013, he was designated as a Senior Advocate, a prestigious recognition in the legal field.
In October 2014, Justice Varma was appointed as an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court, and by February 2017, he was made a permanent judge. He was later transferred to the Delhi High Court, where he began his tenure on October 11, 2021.
