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Cash ’n’ Curry? Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 20 It is believed that the name of a high court Judge has figured in his statement recorded by the police after he was quizzed on the source of money, and the circumstances in which the cash was erroneously delivered at the house of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur. Bansal told the police the money was meant for a property deal at Solan. It wrongly landed at the house of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur due to a mistake on the part of his wife and clerk. As the Chandigarh Police armed itself with Bansal’s statement moved to seek his police remand for a maximum period of 14 days to unravel the entire “nexus”, the high court bar association accused the police of “withholding the name of the sitting high court Judge to whom the money was to be delivered”. Addressing the gathering during the association’s general house meeting, advocate Dinesh Kumar and other members said the cash in the bag was not meant for Justice Nirmaljit Kaur. Still her name was flashed by the media time and again. On the other hand, the top brass of the Chandigarh Police was shying away from naming the sitting judge, who was in touch with the accused, though the call details were available with the police, they insisted.IG S.K. Jain met the Chief Justice and other senior-most judges of the high court in the afternoon. What transpired at the meeting is a matter of speculation at the Bar, as it was held in close chambers. It is believed that Jain told the judges that the cash was meant for someone else. He also told the judges that Ravinder Singh, a Delhi-based businessman-cum-accused in the case registered against Bansal, was in constant touch with the person to whom money was to be given. Moreover, Bansal categorically told his clerk Parkash Ram that the cash was meant for the other person after he contacted the former law officer immediately after being caught. Earlier during the day, Bansal, escorted by over 12 lawyers and others, surrendered before the Chandigarh Police around 2.05 am. Another accused Nirmal Singh was also taken into custody around 5 am. Bansal was shown arrested at 4.30 am. Investigating officer ASP Madhur Verma refused to divulge details. The sources added Bansal’s alibis Nirmal Singh and Pankaj Bhardwaj backtracked from their earlier statements that the money was meant for a property deal with them. Bansal was later taken to the Sector 16 hospital for medical examination. Bansal and Nirmal Singh were produced in the Sector 17 district courts amidst tight security in the afternoon and were remanded in three-day police custody. His counsels were allowed to meet him for an hour from 6 pm during his remand. As Bansal stood in the witness box unruffled, a battery of 62 lawyers came forward in his defence in the jam-packed courtroom. They argued the case under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and Section 120-B of the IPC was not made out against the accused. Bansal requested Judicial Magistrate Mahesh Kumar to go through his statement recorded earlier by the police before pronouncing the orders on police remand. Up in arms against him, the Bar association placed his membership under suspension, and sought the withdrawal of the work from judge found guilty. The members also demanded an in-house inquiry, even as the police investigated the matter.
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