Integrity on trial? Doing the right thing in the wrong times: The case of Justice Yashwant Varma

By Rosamma Thomas*
It is possible to be a minority of just one; it is possible to do the right thing, and still be punished for it. Jesus Christ was crucified, after all. On March 22, 2025, just days after news broke of the vast sums of money found burnt at Justice Yashwant Varma’s official residence, Ajuni Bedi compiled a list of notable judgments authored by this judge who then served the Delhi High Court.
In 2023, J Varma led a division bench of the Delhi High Court that ruled that gold is prohibited item for import under the Customs Act, a ruling with great impact on import policy and customs regulations.
Issuing a clarification on the Arms Act, in 2022, J Varma ruled that even members of Rifles Associations or Clubs cannot possess more than two firearms; this underlined the fact that the right to possess firearms is not an absolute right under the Constitution. It is noteworthy that in May 2025, the Assam cabinet approved a scheme to offer arms licences to people living in “remote” and “vulnerable” areas, to help them protect themselves. Is not such protection one of the duties of the state?
It was during J Varma’s earlier tenure at the Allahabad High Court that Dr Kafeel Khan was granted bail. Dr Khan was accused of medical negligence during the Gorakhpur Hospital tragedy in 2017, when the hospital’s oxygen supply was cut off after warnings of non-payment of dues to the supplier. Media outlets reported that Dr Khan used his own funds to acquire oxygen cylinders, and worked overtime to remedy the situation; yet the news coverage only showed the state government in poor light, and action against the good doctor was swift.
In March 2024, J Varma rejected a plea from the Congress party challenging the tax reassessment of the party. Is that why he has no friends in the Opposition either?
Exactly 15 years ago, after evading police for four days, India’s current Union Home Minister Amit Shah was arrested by the CBI in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. In November 2013, website Cobrapost published a report that detailed how Amit Shah, in 2009, while serving as home minister of Gujarat, ordered the illegal surveillance of a young woman, in gross abuse of the machinery of state police. Over 200 audio recordings of the home minister speaking with a police officer were submitted to the CBI. The mystery surrounding the “death” of Justice Loya, who was hearing just one case – the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case -- at the time of his death, has also been covered in detail by the Caravan magazine.
Every saint has a past, they say, and every sinner a future. But can it be that some saints remain saints, while some sinners stay sinners?
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*Freelance journalist

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