Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna has constituted a three-member committee, as part of the in-house inquiry, to probe the allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma. The three-member committee comprises Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court; Justice GS Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh; and Justice Anu Sivaraman of Karnataka High Court.

CJI has also asked the Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi not to assign any judicial work to Justice Yashwant Varma.

Media reports had earlier said that a fire at the judge’s house had inadvertently led to the recovery of unaccounted cash.

The Supreme Court Collegium had then decided to repatriate Justice Varma back to the Allahabad High Court, his parent High Court.

However, at a full court meeting of all Supreme Court judges held on Friday morning, it was suggested that a punitive transfer would not be enough and some concrete action has to be taken against the judge.

The full court then unanimously agreed to an in-house probe, with the transfer as the first step. The transfer is in process, though it is yet to be cleared by the government.