CBI files chargesheet against Justice Nirmal Yadav

Chandigarh, Mar 4 (PTI) The Central Bureau of
Invesitigation (CBI) on Friday charged Uttarakhand High Court
judge Nirmal Yadav with conspiracy and corruption offences in
the 2008 "cash-at-judge's door" scam on the day of her
retirement making her the first sitting judge to be
chargesheeted.
The 25-page chargesheet against Yadav and four others
was filed in the court of Special CBI Judge Ritu Tagore here
under various sections, including 120-B of the Indian Penal
Code (IPC) relating to conspiracy and sections 11 and 12 of
the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The scam broke out when Yadav was the judge of the
Punjab and Haryana High Court after which she was shifted to
the north Indian state of Uttarakhand last year.
In a rare move against the higher judiciary, the other
charges for which Yadav was booked included fabricating false
evidence and destruction of evidence.
The Special CBI court posted the matter for April six
after the CBI filed the chargesheet against Yadav on the day
when she demits office.
The others named in the chargesheet are local advocate
Sanjiv Bansal, Delhi businessman Ravinder Singh, Nirmal Singh
and Rajiv.
The case had rocked the Punjab and Haryana High Court
after a sum of Rs 15 lakh was wrongly delivered at the
residence of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur, another judge of the High
Court here, on August 13, 2008 following which she reported
the matter to the Chandigarh Police. The money was said to
have been delivered there due to confusion over names.
The chargesheet against Justice Yadav was filed after
President of India Pratibha Patil gave clearance for her
prosecution.
The CBI also attached the three-page sanction letter
issued by the President with the chargesheet.
Since the CBI got the sanction only recently, the
prosecuting agency said that it would soon file the documents
related to the case.
The money was allegedly delivered by Parkash Ram, a
clerk of Sanjiv Bansal, who was a former Advocate General of
Haryana.
Yadav had denied the allegation that the money was meant
for her and proceeded on leave after the case surfaced. Later
she was transferred as a judge of the Uttarakhand High Court.