Ex-judge gets appearance exemption in corruption case

A court here Saturday exempted former high court judge Nirmal Yadav from personal appearance in a corruption case against her and four others. It however, said that she will have to appear whenever directed to do so.

Charges of corruption were framed Jan 18 against Yadav, a former judge of the Uttarakhand High Court, by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court here in the multi-million rupee "cash-for-judge" scam.

Charges were also framed against four other people - Delhi-based hotelier Ravinder Singh, Haryana's former additional advocate general Sanjiv Bansal, Panchkula-based businessman Rajiv Gupta and another person Nirmal Singh.

When the trial began here Saturday, Yadav sought an order from the court on her application for exemption from personal hearing owing to health reasons. The court allowed her that with conditions.

Yadav, who was a judge in the Punjab and Haryana High Court here earlier, and others are facing trial for corruption. The trial will now begin March 17.

The scam came to light after a packet containing Rs.15 lakh cash was delivered Aug 13, 2008, at the Sector 11 residence of newly-appointed high court judge, Nirmaljit Kaur. She complained to police and got a case registered.

Police investigations later revealed that the money was meant for Justice Nirmal Yadav but was delivered to the other woman judge's house by mistake.

Yadav was a sitting judge then.

The CBI had booked Yadav and others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. A case was registered by the Chandigarh Police initially and later the investigation was handed over to the CBI.

Yadav had tried her best to get out of the case but her pleas were rejected by the high court and the Supreme Court.

Despite objections from Yadav, the Supreme Court had set up an independent enquiry into the case. The Punjab and Haryana High Court later, in 2011, directed Yadav to appear before the trial court.

Yadav was later transferred to the Uttarakhand High Court from where she retired in 2012.

The CBI had filed a charge sheet against Yadav for corruption, conspiracy, destruction of evidence and creation of false evidence.