SC Refuses To Quash Charge Against Nirmal Yadav

 New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday declined to quash the charge sheet filed against former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Nirmal Yadav who was allegedly involved in a multi-million rupee “cash at door” corruption case. “At this stage we are not prepared to quash the charge sheet,” ruled the apex court bench of Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice C.K. Prasad while not accepting pleas of senior counsel K.T.S. Tulsi, who appeared for Yadav.

However, the court permitted Yadav to raise all her contentions before the trial court which would decide them on merit without being influenced by the observations of the high court. The high court had earlier rejected her plea for quashing the charge sheet.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court was hit by the “cash at door” scam after a packet containing Rs.15 lakh was placed Aug 13, 2008 outside the residence of another newly-appointed high court judge Nirmaljit Kaur in Chandigarh.
Yadav challenged an high court order not permitting her to inspect the government records that were relied upon by it (high court) while rejecting her plea for the quashing of the charge sheet.
She also asked the high court to summon the records of the apex court, including the opinion rendered by then attorney general and then chief justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan.
Tulsi, who appeared for Yadav, assailed the high court order saying that it was in the breach of principle of natural justice as she was not permitted access to the material that the court had relied upon in rejecting her plea.
He told the court that opinion given by then attorney general said that there was no shred of evidence in the allegation of any wrongdoing by Yadav. He said that even Balakrishnan said that no action was required to be taken, for now, when the law and justice ministry sought his opinion. “Liberty of a person (Nirmal Yadav) is at stake. All the material, whatever may be their nature, had to be disclosed. Liberty is given top priority,” Tulsi told the court.
The court was also told that the incident related to August 2008, and the day after the cash was recovered all judicial work was withdrawn from Yadav. Subsequently, the work was restored and she was transferred to the Uttarakhand High Court in Nanital.
The CBI filed the closure report in the case Dec 17, 2009.

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