Brijendra Gaid / Chandigarh26 minutes ago
- copy link
Former judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice (R) Nirmal Yadav. (File)
It has been 14 years since the ‘cash at door’ bribery case involving Justice Nirmal Yadav, a former woman judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, is still pending in the Chandigarh CBI court. Now the Chandigarh court has said that the trial of this case will be completed by December, 2022. The hearing was fixed on October 10 for recording the statement of the accused under CrPC 313. However, the defense in the case has been continuously asking for dates.
In such a situation, now the CBI court, refusing to give an opportunity to seek further date, has asked to record the statement under CrPC 313 on November 19. The court has said in its 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. In the case, the court had asked the accused to record their statements under CrPC 313, while rejecting the CBI’s application to call about 20 witnesses again in the ‘box’.
Retired judge Nirmal Yadav was charged with Section 11 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the other four accused were charged with various sections of the IPC including criminal conspiracy. Former Additional Advocate General Sanjeev Bansal has died among the accused. On the other hand, along with Justice Yadav, the case is going on against hotelier Ravinder Singh Bhasin of Haryana-Delhi, businessman Rajeev Gupta of Chandigarh and one Nirmal Singh.
Bribe was brought to the wrong judge’s house
A then woman judge of the High Court had mistakenly reached the house of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur with Rs 15 lakh as bribe. According to the CBI case, this amount was for Justice Nirmal Yadav. Justice Nirmaljit Kaur’s peon Amrik Singh had given a complaint about this episode which happened on August 13, 2008. A person named Prakash Ram reached his house with this money in a plastic bag. He told Peon 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.
symbolic picture.
Advocate met with an accident
On the latest hearing of the case, the accused Ravinder Singh Bhasin sought exemption from personal appearance. The court granted exemption only this time on the basis of the facts given in his application. An application was filed in the case stating that the chief counsel (counsel) of accused Rajiv Gupta, BS Riyad, met with an accident on November 12. He has fractured his leg and has suffered injuries elsewhere in the leg. He is admitted to Fortis Hospital in Mohali.
On the other hand, the counsel for the main accused Justice (R) Nirmal Yadav and Nirmal Singh asked for one last chance to adjourn the hearing of the case to record the statement of CrPC 313. The court gave him one last chance. At the same time, the court said that sufficient time has been taken for recording the statement under CrPC 313 in the case. This may be due to the lengthy testimonies and the large number of witnesses involved. However, looking at the circumstances, the defense is asked to complete the entire process by November 19. Special Judge of CBI Court Jagjit Singh has given this order.
CBI filed charge sheet in 2011
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.
The CBI said after investigation that a criminal case is made out against Justice Nirmal Yadav and others. Other accused include Sanjeev Bansal, Rajeev Gupta, Nirmal Singh and Ravinder Singh Bhasin. In January 2014, the CBI court had framed charges against the accused. Sanjeev Bansal had died during the trial.