Six high court bar associations have issued a joint statement urging Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna to initiate a criminal investigation against Justice Varma and revoke the recommendation for his transfer to the Allahabad High Court. .The High Court Bar Associations of Allahabad, Lucknow, Madhya Pradesh (Jabalpur), Gujarat, Karnataka and Kerala meet the CJI today to pursue their demands.Speaking to Bar and Bench, Allahabad High Court Bar Association President Anil Tiwari stated that CJI Khanna assured them their demands would be considered."However, CJI did not promise anything," he added..Media reports stated that a fire at Justice Varma's house on the evening of March 14 had inadvertently led to the recovery of unaccounted cash. Justice Varma and his wife were not in Delhi on the said day. Only his daughter and aged mother were at home when the fire broke out..The incident led to allegations of corruption against Justice Varma, who has denied such accusations and maintained that it appears to be a conspiracy to frame him.The CJI initiated an in-house probe into the allegations and set up a three-member committee on March 22 to conduct the probe.A video of the recovery of burnt cash was also apparently shared by the Delhi Police Commissioner with the Chief Justice of the High Court and has since been shared by the Supreme Court on its website.The Supreme Court also published a report of Delhi High Court Chief Justice on the incident along with Justice Varma's response..Aggrieved by the Supreme Court Collegium's recent recommendation to transfer Justice Varma back to his parent High Court, the Allahabad High Court Bar Association declared an indefinite strike.
