The Supreme Court of India has rejected an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 that sought the disclosure of the in-house inquiry committee report on the allegations against Justice Yashwant Verma. The request also aimed to obtain the letter written by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to the President of India and the Prime Minister, forwarding the said inquiry report.
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This rejection was communicated by the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the Supreme Court in response to an application submitted by Amritpal Singh Khalsa on May 9, 2025. The CPIO explained that the requested information could not be provided due to reasons established in the Supreme Court’s judgment in CPIO, Supreme Court of India vs. Subhash Chandra Agarwal, decided on November 13, 2019. The reply also cited Sections 8(1)(e) and 11(1) of the RTI Act.
“The information cannot be provided in view of tests outlined by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in its judgment dated 13.11.2019 passed in Civil Appeal Nos. 10044-45/2010 (CPIO, Supreme Court of India vs. Subhash Chandra Agarwal, (2020) 5 SCC 481) viz. independence of judiciary, proportionality test, fiduciary relationship, invasion of the right to privacy and breach of duty of confidentiality, with reference to provisions of Section 8(1)(e) and Section 11(1) of the RTI Act, 2005,” stated the response by the Supreme Court’s Additional Registrar and CPIO on May 21, 2025.
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Section 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act exempts from disclosure any information obtained in a fiduciary relationship, unless a larger public interest is demonstrated. Section 11(1) pertains to the protection of third-party information, preventing its disclosure without their consent.
On May 8, 2025, the then CJI Sanjiv Khanna forwarded the in-house inquiry committee’s report to the President and the Prime Minister for appropriate action.
The inquiry committee was formed on March 22, 2025, after reports surfaced about the accidental discovery of a large amount of cash in a storeroom at the official residence of Justice Yashwant Verma during a firefighting operation. At that time, Justice Verma was a sitting judge at the Delhi High Court. Following the controversy, he was transferred to the Allahabad High Court, which is his parent High Court. Furthermore, judicial work was withdrawn from him as per the instructions of the CJI.
The committee, constituted by the CJI, included:
- Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court,
- Justice GS Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court, and
- Justice Anu Sivaraman, Judge of Karnataka High Court.
The Delhi High Court’s Chief Justice submitted a preliminary report, along with Justice Varma’s response and the photos and videos recorded by the Delhi Police during the operation. These documents were made publicly available by uploading them to the Supreme Court’s website. However, the final report by the in-house inquiry committee was not disclosed.
The Supreme Court’s rejection of the RTI application reiterates its earlier stand on the confidentiality of internal inquiry reports and the necessity to balance the independence of the judiciary and the privacy rights of individuals involved.
