The Delhi High Court has initiated an inquiry against one of its judges after allegations that unaccounted cash was found at his home, ANI reported citing a Supreme Court statement on Friday.

Unidentified Delhi Police officers had told The Indian Express earlier on Friday that the cash was allegedly recovered when emergency services responded to a fire incident at Justice Yashwant Verma’s official residence on March 14.

However, Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg later denied that cash was found during the operation.

“Soon after dousing the flames, we informed police about the fire incident,” PTI quoted Garg as saying. “Thereafter, a team of fire department personnel left the spot. Our fire fighters did not find any cash during their fire fighting operation.”

The Supreme Court said that a proposal has been made to transfer Varma to the Allahabad High Court, but maintained that discussions about the proposed transfer were not linked to the inquiry into the alleged cash haul. Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya will submit his inquiry report on Friday.

The Supreme Court said that the Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna examined the proposal to transfer Varma on Thursday.

“Thereafter, letters were written to the consultee judges of the Supreme Court, the chief justices of the High Courts concerned and Mr Justice Yashwant Varma,” the Supreme Court said. “Responses received will be examined and, thereupon, the Collegium will pass a resolution.”

Under the collegium system, the five seniormost judges of the Supreme Court, including the chief justice, decide on the appointments and transfers of judges to the top court and the High Courts. These recommendations must be approved by the Union government.

The Allahabad High Court Bar Association opposed repatriating Verma to the Allahabad High Court, saying that it is not a “trash bin”. It added that corruption in the judiciary has eroded public faith in it.

Shocking case, says Congress MP

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh raised the matter in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, saying that he had read about a “shocking case of huge amounts of cash unearthed” at a Delhi High Court judge’s home.

Ramesh pointed to a notice MPs had submitted to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar earlier about remarks made by an Allahabad High Court judge.

The Congress leader was referring a notice Opposition MPs had moved in the Upper House in December for a motion to impeach Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav for anti-Muslim remarks the judge had made in December.

“You have repeatedly called into question the urgency for judicial accountability,” Ramesh said. “In fact, you directed the Leader of the House on this issue. I request that you make some observations on this and give necessary directions to the government to come up with a proposal for increasing judicial accountability.”

Dhankhar said he will find a mechanism to hold a discussion on the matter, PTI reported.