CHANDIGARH, Apr 06: A special CBI court acquitted former Punjab and Haryana high court Judge Nirmal Yadav and three others in the 17-year-old high-profile cash-at-judge’s-door case.
Yadav, sitting in her car in the parking of the court complex due to a fractured leg, said she had full faith in the judiciary as the verdict came.
Vishal Garg Narwana, the defence lawyer, asserted that the court decision proved that the former judge was innocent and there was no proof against her in the case.
The case emerged in 2008 when a bag with Rs 15 lakh mistakenly ended up at the Chandigarh residence of another judge, Nirmaljit Kaur. She called the police.
The probe revealed the money was allegedly intended for Justice Yadav to influence a decision related to a property deal.
The name of Haryana’s then Additional Advocate General was also surfaced in the case.
As the probe progressed, Justice Yadav was transferred to Uttarakhand HC and retired in 2011.
Initially, Chandigarh police probed the matter, but within 15 days it was handed over to Central Bureau of Investigation. In 2009, CBI filed a closure report, but CBI court rejected it and ordered a re-investigation.
In 2011, CBI filed a chargesheet naming Justice Nirmal Yadav and several others as accused but, the case was delayed multiple times due to legal complexities.
In 2010, the then Chief Justice granted permission to prosecute Yadav. After receiving approval from the President in 2011, a chargesheet was filed on March 3, 2011 & in 2013, the CBI court framed charges and began the trial but the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 affected proceedings but untimely judgement passed.
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