Brijendra Gaid / ChandigarhOne hour ago
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The CBI court has ordered the counsel for Justice (R) Nirmal Yadav, former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, accused in the Rs 15 lakh bribery case, to bring the defense witness on his own responsibility. On the latest hearing of the case, Special Judge, CBI Court, Chandigarh District Court, Jagjit Singh said that despite being given an opportunity by the court, the counsel for the accused Justice Yadav could not get the statement of any defense witness recorded.
The counsel for the accused Justice Nirmal Yadav has been ordered to bring the defense witness on his own responsibility on the due date. At the same time, orders have been given to issue summons to the witnesses through the court. Please inform that in the 14 year old case, CBI Judge Jagjit Singh has said in his order that this case comes under the category of cases older than 10 years. In such a situation, under the orders of the High Court, the case has to be disposed of by December this year.
Defense not showing efforts to record statements of witnesses
During the hearing of the case, Justice Yadav’s lawyer has now sought 2 days time from the court so that he can present the evidence. At the same time, an application was filed for the demand of summoning another defense witness. CBI Judge Jagjit Singh said that despite the hearing of the case being adjourned several times, no effort has been shown by the counsel to summon these witnesses and get them examined.
Get the testimonies of defense witnesses recorded soon
The Court noted that summons were issued to two witnesses, Witnesses 2(A) and 2(B), who were named in Justice Yadav’s application. These summons have not been received back neither in the form of Serv nor in any other form. In such a situation, the court said that the Defense Council needs to make every effort to get the testimony of the defense witnesses done at the earliest. For this, accepting the demand of 2 days time demanded by the Defense Council, the court adjourned the hearing for the date of 5th December in the interest of justice.
Witness demanded testimony in January
At the same time, during the hearing, a defense witness Ishwar Pal Kaur has been ordered to appear on the next hearing of the case. Half cross-examination of a witness named Ishwar Pal Kaur could be done on 2nd December. His cross was adjourned for further hearing. He told the court that the rest of his cross-examination should be done on January 5, 2023. The reason behind this was told that he has an appointment in PGI on 3rd December. He also presented an application in the court to postpone the hearing. However, the court has asked him to appear on December 5. At the same time, Vikram Rana’s testimony was also recorded as a defense witness in the case.
delay in recording the statement
Earlier, there was a delay in recording the statement under CrPC 313 on behalf of the accused Justice Nirmal Yadav as an accused. The date was sought from the court in the matter. Earlier, the Supreme Court had reprimanded Justice Yadav for delaying the trial by rejecting his application to stay the trial.
Case is going on against them
The accused include Justice Yadav, Delhi businessman Ravinder Singh Bhasin, Panchkula resident businessman Rajeev Gupta and Nirmal Singh. One of the accused, former Additional Advocate General of Haryana Sanjeev Bansal has died.
Bribe amount was delivered the next day: CBI
This matter came to light 14 years ago on August 13, 2008. When Rs 15 lakh bribe by mistake reached the house of another High Court judge. CBI claims that 15 lakh bribe was delivered to Justice Yadav’s house on August 14, the next day after the bribery scandal was exposed. Retired judge Nirmal Yadav is facing trial under Section 11 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the rest 3 accused under various sections of the IPC including criminal conspiracy.
Accused of giving ‘one-sided verdict’ in plot case
According to the CBI case, while being a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice (R) Nirmal Yadav had given a decision on March 11, 2008 in a case (RSA) of the year 2007 under the influence of Ravinder Singh Bhasin. Bhasin was close to Nirmal Yadav and Sanjeev Bansal. He was interested in a Plot No. 601, Sector-16, Panchkula. Justice Yadav had given the verdict in the case related to the same plot.
Sanjeev Bansal had issued a check of Rs 2 crore from his account in the name of Rajeev Gupta, another accused in the case. Out of this, 1.5 crore was given to Vinod Tayal. This amount was given by Sanjeev Bansal and Rajeev Gupta in the form of a property purchased in Hisar. Whereas, the remaining Rs 20 lakh was given in May 2007.
Bansal had ‘superseded’ the senior council
In June 2007, Rs 15 lakh was given to plot owner Anand Jain. Rajeev Gupta bought the Panchkula plot from Anand Jain for Rs 60 lakh. For this, Sanjeev Bansal had withdrawn money from his account. Sanjeev Bansal had personal interest in that plot. At the same time, Sanjeev Bansal appeared during the hearing of this case, despite the presence of Senior Counsel Arun Jain, ‘superseding’ him.
Judge asked for money even after disclosure of bribery scandal
The CBI also claimed that Justice Nirmal Yadav again demanded Rs 15 lakh from Ravinder Singh after reaching Justice Nirmaljit Kaur’s house by mistake on August 13 for Rs 15 lakh. After this, on the morning of August 14, Rajeev Gupta, close to Sanjeev Bansal, had delivered Rs 15 lakh to Justice Nirmal Yadav. Justice Yadav had asked for this 15 lakh rupees in the year 2007 as a verdict in the case. Sanjeev Bansal had shown interest in this plot.
At the same time, the CBI said that Sanjeev Bansal had also arranged a ticket for Justice Yadav for a foreign air travel. Whereas, Justice Yadav was given a matrix mobile phone card by Ravinder Singh Bhasin. It was used by Justice Yadav during his travels.
Call details of the accused were also handed over
The CBI had also produced call details of Justices Yadav, Sanjeev Bansal, Rajeev Gupta and Ravinder Singh Bhasin to prove their closeness. These call details were allegedly at the time of the bribe transaction. And, according to the CBI charge sheet, Ravinder Singh Bhasin along with Justice Nirmal Yadav had also bought land in Mill Solan (Himachal Pradesh). An inquiry was also conducted with the Himachal Pradesh government regarding the purchase of this land.
Bribe was brought to the wrong judge’s house
15 lakh rupees of bribe had mistakenly reached the house of High Court judge Justice Nirmaljit Kaur. According to the CBI case, this amount was meant for Justice Nirmal Yadav. On August 13, 2008, Justice Nirmaljit Kaur’s peon Amrik Singh had given a complaint. A person named Munshi Prakash Ram of Sanjeev Bansal reached his house with this money in a plastic bag. He told Pian Amrik Singh that some papers have come from Delhi, which have to be delivered. Although there was a hefty amount in the bag. In view of the seriousness of the case, the investigation of the case was handed over to the Chandigarh CBI.
CBI filed charge sheet in 2011
The CBI said after investigation that a criminal case is made out against Justice Nirmal Yadav and others. When the CBI filed a charge sheet against Justice Nirmal Yadav in March 2011, she was a judge of the Uttarakhand High Court. He was transferred from the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the year 2009 after the bribery scandal. The Supreme Court reprimanded Justice Yadav for causing delay in the trial while rejecting his application to stay the trial. Earlier, the High Court had rejected his demand. In January 2014, the CBI court had framed charges against the accused. Sanjeev Bansal had died during the trial.