A special CBI court in Chandigarh on Saturday framed charges against former Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge Nirmal Yadav in the 2008 cash-at-judge’s-door scam after the Supreme Court dismissed her plea for stay on proceedings of the trial court.
Special CBI Court Judge Vimal Kumar framed charges against Yadav under Section 11 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and four others under various sections of the IPC, including Section 120-B (conspiracy).
On July 31 last year, the CBI Court here had accepted the CBI charge sheet for framing of charges in the case against her and other accused.
The other accused in the case are Sanjiv Bansal, former Additional Advocate General, Haryana, Delhi-based hotelier Ravinder Singh, city-based businessman Rajiv Gupta and one Nirmal Singh.
All the five accused were present in the court.
The case had hit headlines after a packet containing Rs.15 lakh was allegedly wrongly delivered at residence of Nirmaljit Kaur, who was also High Court judge, on August 13, 2008.
The matter was reported to the Chandigarh Police, but the case was later handed over to the CBI.
The CBI on March 4, 2011 charge-sheeted Justice Nirmal Yadav — who was then a judge in the Uttarakhand High Court — in the case on the day of her retirement. She had been transferred from the Punjab and Haryana High Court in November 2009.
The CBI held that justice Yadav had committed an offence punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, while the court had also ordered framing of charges against Bansal, Gupta and Singh under various Sections of the IPC including 120-B.
The Supreme Court had on January 3 this year dismissed Yadav’s plea for a stay on proceedings of trial court and pulled her up for adopting delaying tactics.
A bench headed by Justice H.L. Dattu had ticked off the former judge for filing multiple petitions in various courts to delay the trial court proceedings in the 2008 case.
Yadav’s counsel submitted that it is a case of no evidence and the trial court should be restrained from framing charges against her, but the apex court was not satisfied and dismissed the plea.
Yadav had approached the apex court challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s 22 November, 2013 order, dismissing her plea against trial court’s proceedings.
Yadav had moved the high court against the orders of the special CBI judge, Chandigarh, who had given the go-ahead for her prosecution in the alleged corruption case.
On 31 July 2013, the trial court had ordered framing of charges against Yadav.
