Chandigarh, January 6
Less than a fortnight after the Supreme Court recommended the transfer of Justice R Mishra in connection with the Uttar Pradesh provident fund scam, he will be sworn in as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The names of Justice Mishra and three other high court judges were recommended for transfer by the Apex Court collegium. The intention was to enable the CBI to conduct a free and fair investigation into the scam. In all, the names of 34 judges, including one from the Apex Court, had cropped up in the PF fund scam.
Information available from Delhi suggests the process is also on to transfer Justice Nirmal Yadav and another Haryana judge from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. No other transfer is in the pipeline.
The name of Justice Yadav had surfaced in the cash-at-judge’s doorstep case as the alleged intended recipient of Rs 15 lakh. The money had erroneously landed in the house of another high court judge with a similar name - Justice Nirmaljit Kaur.
A case in the matter was registered initially by the Chandigarh Police after Justice Nirmaljit Kaur had blown the whistle. The investigation was later handed over to the CBI.
A three-judge committee was also constituted by the Chief Justice of India to look into the matter. In its report submitted only recently to the CJI, Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, the committee had asserted the cash in the bag was not bribe money.
At the same time, the committee had made it clear that it was a case of judicial impropriety. A notice, as such, has been issued to Justice Yadav by the Apex Court.
So far, the reason behind initiating the process to transfer the other judge is not clear. It is believed his name, too, had cropped up in connection with the cash scam probe. The judge was elevated to the high court from the category of district and sessions judges.
With this, it is now obvious that the name of no other high court judge is under the Apex Court scanner for transfer in connection with the alleged cash scam. It is also evident that the matter was blown out of proportion by the
Bar.
