Retired judge Nirmal Yadav from Punjab and Haryana High Court was cleared of charges in the 2008 ‘cash-at-judge’s door’ case by a special CBI court in Chandigarh on Saturday.
The prominent case that shook the judiciary 17 years prior centers on a cash bundle with Rs 15 lakh, which was supposedly misdelivered to the home of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur, another current high court judge, on August 13, 2008. It was claimed that the money was intended for Justice Yadav as a bribe to influence a property deal.
In her ruling, Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge Alka Malik cleared Justice Yadav of charges alongside four others: Sanjiv Bansal, former Additional Advocate General of Haryana, hotelier Ravinder Singh from Delhi, city businessman Rajiv Gupta, and one other individual. Bansal died in February 2017.
Defense attorney Vishal Garg Narwana stated that the court has found former Justice Yadav and four others not guilty. In the case, there were five defendants, one of whom passed away during the trial.
“Today the court has passed the judgement in the matter. Justice (Retd) Nirmal Yadav has been acquitted. False allegations have been levelled against her,” Narwana said as quoted by news agency PTI.
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The concluding arguments in the matter were presented in the Chandigarh court on Thursday, with the judgment scheduled for March 29.
The CBI brought charges against Justice Yadav, who denied the accusation.
“I trust the judicial system. I haven’t committed any crime, and nothing damaging was discovered throughout the entire trial against me,” she stated.
The ruling arrives during the heated debate over the finding of “four to five partially charred sacks of Indian currency notes” at the Lutyens home of Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma after a fire occurred on March 14.
A three-person internal committee established by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna is looking into the issue. Justice Varma has claimed he is not aware of the cash found.
What is the whole case?
On August 13, 2008, a staff member at Justice Kaur’s residence in Chandigarh received a parcel with Rs 15 lakh in cash. The package was supposedly intended for Justice Yadav and was mistakenly delivered to the other judge’s home because of the similarity in their names.
Justice Kaur promptly notified the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court at that time.
The issue was reported to the Chandigarh Police, after which an FIR was filed regarding the incident. Nonetheless, the case was subsequently handed over to the CBI.
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After her name emerged in the case, Justice Yadav was reassigned to the Uttarakhand High Court. In December 2009, the CBI submitted a closure report that the CBI court dismissed in March 2010, directing a reinvestigation.
In March 2011, the CBI filed a charge sheet against Justice Nirmal Yadav, who was a judge at the Uttarakhand High Court, coinciding with her retirement day.
In January 2014, the special CBI court brought charges against Justice Yadav after the Supreme Court rejected her request to halt the trial court’s proceedings. The CBI asserted that Justice Yadav had engaged in an act punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Throughout the trial, the prosecution examined 69 out of 84 witnesses. In February of this year, the high court permitted the CBI to revisit 10 witnesses in four weeks and instructed the trial court to refrain from unnecessary delays.
