Chandigarh, March 29 Pronouncing its verdict in the 2008 corruption case, a special CBI court acquitted former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Nirmal Yadav on Saturday.
The case dates back to August 2008, when a bag containing Rs 15 lakh allegedly meant for Justice Nirmal Yadav had mistakenly been delivered at the residence of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur, another High Court judge.
The verdict comes a day after the Special CBI judge heard the final arguments in the case on Friday and posted the case for pronouncement of order on March 29.
“I have not committed any crime and there is nothing incriminating found during the entire trial against me,” Justice Yadav (retd) stated in her final statement.
The relief for Justice Nirmal Yadav comes at a time when a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court, Justice Yashwant Varma, is facing similar charges of ‘amassing’ unaccounted wealth.
Justice Varma was de-rostered by the Delhi HC after a directive from the Chief Justice of India (CJI) following recovery of mounds of cash from his residence. As per reports, the firemen, while dousing the fire at his Lutyens Delhi residence on March 14, discovered wads of cash allegedly in a storeroom. Justice Varma, however, strongly denied the charges, claiming that he was being "defamed and maligned".
In the 2008 case of cash at the judge’s door, a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against Justice Nirmal Yadav on August 16, 2008. About 10 days later, the then UT Administrator had transferred the case to the CBI, which registered a fresh FIR on August 28, 2008.
In January 2009, the CBI sought sanction to prosecute Justice Nirmal Yadav. The High Court granted the same in November 2010. The CBI’s move was challenged by Justice Yadav but was denied. Later, the President of India approved the prosecution sanction in March 2011.
CBI filed a chargesheet the same month. More than 80 witnesses were cited by the prosecution during the course of the trial.
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