The case began in August 2008 when a bag containing Rs. 15 lakh was mistakenly delivered to the residence of another Punjab and Haryana High Court judge, Justice Nirmaljit Kaur.
Chandigarh: Today, 29th March, A Chandigarh court has acquitted former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge, Justice Nirmal Yadav, in a corruption case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2008.
The verdict was delivered on Saturday by Special Court of Additional Sessions Judge Alka Malik. Along with Justice Yadav, the other accused in the case—Ravinder Singh Bhasin, Rajiv Gupta, and Nirmal Singh—were also acquitted.
Speaking about the verdict, Advocate Hitesh Puri, who represented accused Nirmal Singh, told the media, “All the accused have been acquitted.”
Background
The case began in August 2008 when a bag containing Rs. 15 lakh was mistakenly delivered to the residence of another Punjab and Haryana High Court judge, Justice Nirmaljit Kaur. Justice Kaur’s peon reported the incident to the Chandigarh Police, leading to the registration of a First Information Report (FIR).
Following this, then Punjab Governor and Union Territory of Chandigarh Administrator, General (Retd.) SF Rodrigues, directed the case to be investigated by the CBI. Initially, the CBI had filed a closure report, but it was rejected. The agency then filed a charge sheet against the accused in 2011.
According to the CBI, the money was meant for Justice Nirmal Yadav but was wrongly delivered to Justice Nirmaljit Kaur’s house due to a mix-up in their names. The bag was allegedly sent by a clerk working for former Haryana Additional Advocate General Sanjeev Bansal.
In 2010, Justice Yadav was transferred to the Uttarakhand High Court, where she retired in 2011. In 2014, the Special Court framed charges against five accused in the case.
One of the main accused, Sanjeev Bansal, passed away in December 2016 at Max Hospital in Mohali. Following his demise, legal proceedings against him were dropped in January 2017.
During the trial, in 2016, Justice Nirmaljit Kaur gave a statement via video conference, recalling the incident that took place on August 13, 2008. She described the moment when the money was delivered to her house:
“I vividly remember that I was munching an apple and my father was sitting with a little drink, as he did every day, when my Peon Amrik walked in and said in Punjabi: ‘Madam, Delhi ton kaagaz aye nein’. I said ‘Khol ke dekh’. While he was struggling to open the tape wrapped around the packet, I felt that they were not papers and I immediately said: ‘Jaldi Khol’. In the process, he tore open the packet and I saw that they were currency notes. So, without wasting a second, I said: ‘Pakro, kaun laike aya hain’.”
She further stated that within minutes of the discovery, Sanjeev Bansal called her to clarify that the money was not meant for her but for someone named Nirmal Singh. However, she had already informed the police by that time.
Justice Kaur then reached out to the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice TS Thakur, who had taken over from Justice JS Khehar just two days earlier. She also informed Justice Mehtab Singh Gill, another sitting High Court judge.
The prosecution cited 84 witnesses, but only 69 were examined in court. In February 2024, the Punjab and Haryana High Court allowed the CBI to re-examine 12 witnesses. The court also directed the CBI to complete the process within four weeks and instructed the trial court to avoid unnecessary delays.
The trial court closed the prosecution’s evidence on March 17. The statements of the accused were recorded on March 26, and final arguments were presented on March 27.
Senior Advocate SK Garg Narwana and Advocate VG Narwana represented Justice Nirmal Yadav in court.
Advocates AS Chahal, BS Riar, and Hitesh Puri represented the other accused.
A copy of the detailed judgment is awaited.
Case Title: Central Bureau of Investigation v Sanjiv Bansal & Ors
