The Supreme Court Collegium on Monday recommended that Justice Yashwant Varma of the Delhi High Court be repatriated to the Allahabad High Court amid allegations that unaccounted cash was found at his home.

The decision came after the Collegium held two meetings on March 20 and March 24.

The cash was allegedly recovered when emergency services responded to a fire incident at Varma’s official residence on March 14. The judge said he was in Bhopal at the time.

On Saturday, the Supreme Court released a report including a video and three photographs showing the purported cash. The video and the photos showed a fireman pulling out half-burnt wads of money from a room in Varma’s home.

The redacted report showed that Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya had written to Varma on Friday, asking him to “account for the presence of money/cash” in a room located in his bungalow.

In response, Varma told Upadhyaya that “no cash was ever placed in that storeroom either by me or any of my family members” and denied that the money belonged to them.

The same day, the Supreme Court said it had set up a three-member committee to look into the allegations against Varma.

On Monday, the Delhi High Court withdrew judicial work from Varma with immediate effect till further orders.

On Friday, the Supreme Court said that the Collegium headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna had examined a proposal to transfer Varma to the Allahabad High Court, his parent High Court, a day earlier.

“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.”

The Supreme Court, however, maintained that discussions about the proposed transfer were not linked to the inquiry into the alleged cash haul.

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 on Friday opposed repatriating Varma to the Allahabad High Court, saying that it was not a “trash bin”. It added that corruption in the judiciary has eroded public faith in it.

Also read: Why Indian judges enjoy de facto impunity when it comes to corruption allegations