The Supreme Court suo motu decided Tuesday to launch an inquiry into the sexual harassment allegations against one of its retired judges and formed a three-judge panel to ascertain the veracity of the accusation made by a young lawyer.

The lawyer, in a blog she wrote on November 6 for the Journal of Indian Law and Society, and later in an interview to web site Legally India, had alleged that she was sexually harassed in December by a Supreme Court judge with whom she was interning.