After being mired in procedural delays for almost five years, trial in one of the most controversial cases related to corruption that involved a High Court judge would finally begin as the special trial court not only accepted the charge sheet filed by the CBI, but also ordered framing of charges on August 12, when the case comes up for hearing next.
What is being referred to as the “cash in a bag” case, assumes significance as it was the first case in which the CBI had proceeded against a sitting judge of any High Court in the country. It even procured the necessary sanctions for prosecution from the President as well as the Chief Justice of India.
The case rocked the judiciary in August 2008, when a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Nirmaljit Kaur, called up the police after a bag containing Rs.15 lakh in cash was delivered at her door step by a official working in the office of Haryana's Advocate General. Investigations by the police and later by the CBI revealed that the bag was actually meant for another judge, Nirmal Yadav.
The CBI in its charge sheet has alleged that a Delhi based hotelier, Ravinder Singh, had sent the cash to Justice Yadav, who was then serving on the Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Her brother is a Minister in the Haryana Government. Ms Yadav who had recused herself from court duties for more than two years after the issue hogged the spotlight, retired from the Uttarakhand High Court recently.
Within two weeks of the incident, the Chief Justice constituted a three-judge panel to probe the matter, while the CBI was entrusted with the investigations. In March 2011, the CBI filed its charge sheet in a special court in Chandigarh. Ever since the investigations began, the trial in the case moved at a tardy pace, as Justice Yadav had filed many petitions, which went up to the Supreme Court.
In its charge sheet, where the CBI has sought that Justice Yadav be tried under Section 11 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, alleged that investigations proved that the cash was required to finance a land deal in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh. After the cash bag landed on the wrong door, Ravinder Singh arranged for another delivery of a similar amount. The investigation agency had also pointed out towards discrepancies in various procedures in the land deal, where identities and addresses were faked. Sanjeev Bansal, who was then working as Additional Advocate General for Haryana, his clerk, Prakash Ram, Ravinder Singh and another Chandigarh based businessman were arrested in the case and subsequently released on bail.
Senior advocate Anupam Gupta, who has been the prosecution counsel , has welcomed the progress as “vindication of principles of judicial accountability”. On the other hand, Justice Yadav who had been exempted from personal appearance in the case , has reiterated her allegations of a frame up and a conspiracy to harm her family, which had a political background.
