Justice Nirmal Yadav acquitted in 2008 ‘cash at judge’s door’ case

A CBI court in Chandigarh has acquitted retired Justice Nirmal Yadav and three others in the 2008 “cash at judge’s door” case, citing the prosecution’s failure to prove charges against them. The other acquitted individuals include hotelier Ravinder Singh, Rajiv Gupta, and Nirmal Singh.

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One of the accused, Sanjiv Bansal, the former Additional Advocate General of Haryana, passed away during the trial.

The case originated in 2008 when a bag containing Rs 15 lakh was mistakenly delivered to the residence of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur, another sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Amrik Singh, a peon at Justice Kaur’s residence, told the police that on August 13, 2008, around 8.30 pm, Parkash Ram arrived at Justice Kaur’s house with a plastic bag. He informed Amrik Singh that “papers had come from Delhi for Justice Kaur”. Amrik Singh took the bag inside, and upon Justice Kaur’s instructions, he opened it to find currency notes inside. The police were called, and they took Parkash Ram and the bag full of cash into custody.

The Chandigarh Police registered an FIR on August 16, 2008. Later, the Chandigarh Administration transferred the investigation to the CBI on August 26, 2008. Upon completing the investigation, the CBI filed a charge sheet on April 18, 2011. According to the chargesheet, the bag was intended for Justice Yadav, but due to the similarity in names, it mistakenly reached Justice Kaur’s residence.

The CBI claimed that on August 13, 2008, Ravinder Singh was supposed to send Rs 15 lakh to Justice Nirmal Yadav. He gave the money to Sanjiv Bansal in Delhi, who was instructed to deliver it to Justice Yadav in Chandigarh. However, Bansal called his wife to send the amount from their home to Justice Yadav’s residence through his munshi, Parkash Ram. Parkash Ram was given a packet by Bansal’s wife to deliver to “Nirmal Ji”, but he inadvertently reached Justice Nirmaljit Kaur’s residence instead.

The special court framed charges against the accused on January 18, 2014. Public prosecutor Narendra Singh argued that the prosecution had proved the case beyond a shadow of doubt. However, Vishal Garg Narwana, counsel for Justice Yadav, claimed that the CBI had falsely implicated her in the case. Notably, the CBI had earlier filed a closure report in the case. However, the court ultimately acquitted all the accused due to lack of evidence.

The prosecution had cited 84 witnesses, with 69 being examined. Later, the high court allowed the prosecution to examine 12 more witnesses in the case.

While talking to the media after acquittal, Justice Nirmal Yadav said that she has full faith in judiciary and the verdict is the victory of the truth.