Ex-HC Judge Nirmal Yadav Acquitted in 17-Year-Old ‘Cash-at-Door’ Case

Ex-HC Judge Nirmal Yadav: Justice with the Anti-Corruption Act, 1988 was also held, as per prosecution in Special CBI Court held on the first day of hearings last year on the case initiated against former Chief Justice Punjab and Haryana High Court, Nirmal Yadav.

Seventeen years after the case of cash-at-judge's-door rocked the judiciary, on Saturday acquitted former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Justice (Retd) Nirmal Yadav and four others in the matter by a special CBI court here. In the sensational case, packets carrying Rs 15 lakh were allegedly erroneously misdelivered at the home of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur, another sitting high court judge, on 13 August 2008. The cash could be viewed as intended for Justice Yadav as bribing to influence a property deal.

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The Court of Special CBI judge Alka Malik pronounced the verdict on Saturday.

Defence counsel Vishal Garg Narwana noted that the court has acquitted former Justice Yadav and four others. These include total five accused in the case, one deceased of trial in between.

"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 told reporters here. A detailed order awaits.

The Court had registered arguments on Thursday for final hearing in the case lodged against Justice Yadav by the Central Bureau of Investigation and had reserved pronouncement on the verdict for March29th.

The names of Sanjiv Bansal, former Additional Advocate General, Haryana, Delhi-based hotelier Ravinder Singh, city-based businessman Rajiv Gupta and another person had also surfaced in the case. One of the accused, Sanjiv Bansal, died of an illness in February, 2017.

This was reported one evening at the Chandigarh Police within which an FIR was also lodged. The case was taken over by CBI afterwards.

The verdict comes amid the raging row over "four to five semi-burnt sacks of Indian currency notes" discovered at the Lutyens residence of Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma following a fire incident on March 14.

The issue is evaluated by an internal committee made up of three members chosen by Chief Justice of India. Justice Varma denied knowing about the cash.

After her name cropped up in the case of cash-at-judge's door, Justice Yadav was transferred to the Uttarakhand High Court.

In December 2009, CBI filed closure report, which was rejected by the CBI court in March 2010 and asked for reinvestigation.

Prosecution sanction was given by Former Chief Justice Punjab and Haryana High Court in November 2010 after CBI sought permission to prosecute Justice Yadav for initiating prosecution against Justice Yadav.

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The office of President of India approved sanction for prosecution in March 2011.

The CBI on March 4, 2011 charge-sheeted Justice Nirmal Yadav, who was then a judge in the Uttarakhand High Court, on her very last day of joining the retirement.

By November, she was already moved from Punjab and Haryana high court.

The special CBI court at this time framed charges against Justice Yadav on this case, following the dismissal of her plea for stay on proceedings of trial court by the Supreme Court.

The CBI claimed that Justice Yadav had committed an offence punishable with the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

During the trial, as many as 69 of the total 84 witnesses were examined by the prosecution. Many judges in the past heard this case during the 17-year trial span.

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