The three members of the in-house committee constituted by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna to probe the recent allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma today resumed holding their respective courts. .Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal High Court Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Karnataka High Court Justice Anu Sivaraman had started the probe into the allegations of cash discovery at Justice Varma's residence on March 25. Since then, the judges were not holding court. They were reportedly stationed at the Haryana state guest house in Delhi's Chanakyapuri to record the statements of various officials connected to the matter. On March 25, the trio had visited Justice Varma's official residence in Delhi. As per a report of The Indian Express, the panel earlier this month recorded statements of various Delhi Police officials including Commissioner Sanjay Arora. The Committee has also reportedly recorded statements of Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg, three firefighters and three security personnel of the judge..A fire at Justice Varma's house on the evening of March 14 had allegedly led to the recovery of unaccounted cash by the fire fighters. Justice Varma and his wife were not in Delhi then and were travelling in Madhya Pradesh. Only his daughter and aged mother were at home when the fire broke out. A video later surfaced showing bundles of cash burning in the fire..The incident led to allegations of corruption against Justice Varma, who denied the accusations and said that it appeared to be a conspiracy to frame him. The CJI then initiated an in-house probe into the allegations and set up the three-member committee on March 22 to conduct the inquiry.The video of the burnt cash was shared by the Delhi Police Commissioner with the Chief Justice of the High Court. It was then made public by the Supreme Court, which also in an unprecedented development published a report of Delhi High Court Chief Justice on the incident along with Justice Varma's response..Following the allegations, Justice Varma was sent back to his parent High Court, where he recently was administered oath of office. However, the judicial work of the judge has been temporarily taken away on instructions of the CJI. The Allahabad High Court Bar Association had earlier gone on strike to protest Justice Varma's repatriation. Considering the pendency of the in-house probe, the Supreme Court on the judicial side refused to entertain a plea seeking the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Justice Varma.Soon after the in-house probe started, Justice Varma reportedly sought legal advice from a team of senior lawyers. Senior Advocates Siddharth Agarwal and Arundhati Katju and Advocates Tara Narula, Stuti Gujral and one other lawyer had visited his residence.
