Lawyers in UP intensify protest over Justice Yashwant Varma’s transfer to Alld High Court

Prayagraj: The legal fraternity in Uttar Pradesh has launched an indefinite strike in protest against the transfer of Justice Yashwant Varma from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court, following allegations of a cash scandal.

Lawyers staged demonstrations outside the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday, performing a Yagya and reciting the Hanuman Chalisa as a symbolic protest against the Supreme Court’s decision.

“We are performing this Yagya so that Supreme Court lawyers come to their senses. We will not let Yashwant Varma sit in the High Court under any circumstances,” declared one of the demonstrators.

Meanwhile, in Varanasi, lawyers took their agitation a step further by sweeping the floors outside the district court as a mark of dissent. Raising slogans of “Justice Varma go back,” they expressed their strong opposition to the transfer. The strike has severely disrupted judicial proceedings, with hearings of nearly 10,000 cases in the Allahabad High Court postponed on Tuesday alone.

The Allahabad High Court Bar Association (AHCBA), led by its president Anil Tiwari, spearheaded the demonstrations at Gate No. 3 of the High Court. Tiwari clarified that the protest was not directed against any individual judge but rather against what he described as a lack of transparency in judicial transfers.

“This is about upholding the integrity of the judiciary. We are standing against a system that operates without accountability. We demand that the transfer order be reconsidered and revoked,” Tiwari asserted.

Earlier, the association had raised strong objections to Justice Varma’s transfer and, after deliberations, decided to halt all work indefinitely.

Controversy Over the Cash Scandal

The protests erupted after the Supreme Court collegium reaffirmed its recommendation to transfer Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court. The decision came after a fire broke out at Justice Varma’s official residence in Delhi on March 14, following which a video surfaced showing burnt bundles of cash, allegedly amounting to Rs 15 crore. The discovery led to suspicions of financial misconduct, and within days, Justice Varma was stripped of his judicial responsibilities by the Delhi High Court. Justice Varma has strongly refuted the allegations, calling them an attempt to malign his reputation. “Neither I nor my family had any knowledge of the alleged cash. This is a deliberate effort to frame me,” he stated.

‘Not A Dustbin’

The Allahabad High Court Bar Association had earlier sent a strongly worded letter to Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud and the collegium, objecting to the transfer. “This is not a dustbin,” the letter read, in a sharp critique of the decision to relocate Justice Varma to Allahabad.