Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Wednesday said a petition seeking registration of an FIR against Justice Yashwant Varma over the alleged discovery of burnt wads of cash from his official residence would be listed for hearing.

Sitting in a bench with Justice Sanjay Kumar, the CJI told petitioner and advocate Mathew J. Nedumpura: “Your matter has been listed for hearing… but don’t make any public statement. Check with the registry.”

The CJI did not stipulate any date for the hearing, but it is likely to be listed either in the next two days or the week beginning March 31.

The bench, however, did not make any observation when a co-petitioner submitted that central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and the income tax department would have immediately launched a probe if such a huge amount of cash was recovered from the house of a businessman. The petition wondered why an exception should be made for judges.

The joint PIL, filed by Nedumpura, three Mumbai-based advocates and a chartered accountant, also urged the Supreme Court to recall its 1991 judgment in the K. Veeraswami vs Union of India case wherein it ruled that no FIR could be registered against a sitting high court or Supreme Court judge without the approval of the CJI.

According to the petitioners, the judgment was rendered per incuriam (in ignorance of the law) without taking into account that the police were under a statutory duty to register an FIR on receiving information about a cognisable offence, irrespective of the person accused.