Justice Nirmal Yadav of Punjab and Haryana High Court has been given a clean chit by the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan in the Rs 15 lakh cash-at-door scam, reports The Hindu.
The collegium accepted the report of the Union Law Ministry which said that no case has been made out for prosecuting her and here was ‘insufficient evidence' of the involvement of the judge in the scam.
The collegium recommended that Justice Nirmal Yadav be transferred as a judge of the Uttarakhand High Court with immediate effect. Law ministry sources said the transfer would be done within a fortnight, the report said.
On August 13, 2008, Rs 15 lakh in cash was delivered at the residence of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur in Chandigarh, which, it was alleged, was meanted for Justice Nirmal Yadafv but wrongly delivered at Justice Nirmaljit Kaur's residence.
Justice Nirmal Yadav maintained that the cash ws not meant for her and that she was made a scapegoat because of similitarity in their names. The CJI then appointed a three-judge committee to probe and Justice Yadav proceeded on leave. IN its report, the three-judge committee concluded that there was prima facie truth in the allegations against Justice Yadav. The CJI issued her show-cause notice.
In her reply, Justice Yadav requested the CJI to reject the inquiry report saying it was lopsided. “I do not know, nor am I aware till now, whether the sum of Rs 15 lakh delivered at Justice Nirmaljit Kaur's residence was for her or for someone else. But I am certain it was always intended to be delivered at her residence. I have been made a scapegoat merely because my first name is similar to the judge to whom the cash was delivered”, she said.
Meanwhile, the CBI registered a case, and after getting permission from the CJI, examined both Justice Nirmaljit Kaur and Justice Nirmal Yadav.
The CBI sent its preliminary report to former Attorney General Milion Banerjee, who in his opinion, concluded that there was insufficient evidence to initiate prosecution against Justice Yadav. The Law Ministry concurred with the AG's opinion and dropped the move to prosecute her and conveyed this to the CJI. The collegium then took the decision to transfer her as a judge to Uttarkhand high court.
