17 years on special cbi court acquits a former hc judge in 2008 ‘cash at door’ case

17 years on special cbi court acquits a former hc judge in 2008 ‘cash at door’ case

Case relates to delivery of a packet with ₹15 lakh at the residence of another judge; the order comes amid row over discovery of ‘semi-burnt sacks of cash’ at HC judge Yashwant Varma’s house in Delhi

Seventeen years after the cash-at-judge’s door case rocked the judiciary, a special CBI court here on Saturday acquitted former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Nirmal Yadav and four others in the matter.

In the sensational case, a packet containing ₹15 lakh was allegedly wrongly delivered at the residence of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur, another sitting High Court judge, on August 13, 2008. It was alleged that the cash was meant for Justice (retd.) Nirmal Yadav as a bribe to influence a property deal.

The matter was reported to the Chandigarh police, following which an FIR was registered in the matter. However, the case was later transferred to the CBI.

Reacting to her acquittal, Ms. Yadav said she did not do anything wrong and has “full faith in the judicial system”.

Defence counsel Vishal Garg Narwana said the Court of Special CBI judge Alka Malik acquitted Ms. Yadav and four others on Saturday. There were a total five accused in the case, one of whom died during the trial. “Today the court has passed the judgment in the matter. Justice (retd.) Nirmal Yadav has been acquitted. False allegations had been levelled against her,” Mr. Narwana told reporters.

A detailed order is awaited.

“I had been given an exemption by the court from appearing but still I used to enquire about the hearing. It is a very long process... I had quite high hopes in life even before retirement. My ambition was to go to the highest court. I wanted to do a lot of things, but because of this I could not... I don’t have any regrets, I have used this time to work positively,” Ms. Yadav said.

‘Justice done’

“Yes, I have suffered but it was fate. I have faith in thejudicial system and it has done justice,” she said.

Former Additional Advocate General of Haryana Sanjiv Bansal, Delhi-based hotelier Ravinder Singh, city-based businessman Rajiv Gupta and another person were accused in the case. Mr. Bansal died of an illness in February 2017.

Advocate B.S. Riar, counsel for Mr. Gupta and Mr. Bansal, said, “Yes, it took 17 years for this judgment, but that was not the fault of the defence counsel. The delay was on the part of the CBI as they kept seeking permissions from the High Court and bringing in different witnesses at different times.”

“The important thing is that justice has finally been served. We are relieved that, even though it was delayed, the right decision was made in the end,” Mr. Riar said.

The court on Thursday had heard the final arguments in the case registered against Ms. Yadav by the CBI and posted the pronouncement of verdict for Saturday. The verdict comes amid a row over the discovery of “four to five semi-burnt sacks of currency notes” at the Lutyens residence of High Court judge Yashwant Varma following a fire incident on March 14. A three-member in-house committee formed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna is investigating the matter.