Chandigarh, August 22
Justice Nirmal Yadav of the Punjab and Haryana High Court will not hold the court for the time being. She has “recused” herself from judicial work” after her name surfaced in the statements of Haryana’s former law officer Sanjeev Bansal in the “Cash ‘n’ Curry case”.
Justice Yadav “recused” or disqualified herself from presiding over the proceeding on her own, and not at the asking of Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur, as reported in a section of the media.
The disinformation, about the Chief Justice asking her to proceed on leave, by an English daily, in fact, led to much confusion and conjectures at the high court, particularly in light of the fact that Justice Yadav did not, on her own, hold the court today.
As of now, the duration for which Justice Yadav will not hold the court is not known. But Justice Yadav has reportedly told the Chief Justice that she was not in a position to concentrate on her work in wake of the controversy.
It is learnt that the Judge, at a meeting with the Chief Justice and other judges, had claimed that her name was being dragged in the controversy. She had nothing to do with Bansal.
In fact, she had never received anything, not even a box of sweets from Bansal and had no knowledge of the money. Justice Yadav had also expressed the apprehension that the entire investigation was being misdirected and influenced to make a scapegoat out of her. In these circumstances, she would like to proceed on leave.
It is believed that the Chief Justice was of the opinion that Justice Yadav’s decision to “recuse herself” was demonstrative of high moral grounds. The Chandigarh Police had placed the preliminary inquiry report in front of him and the facts contained in it would have compelled him to take some decision.
Available information suggests
communications in the matter have already been sent to Delhi to give the apex court a clearer picture of the entire episode.
The issue has so far remained a subject of speculation at the Bar, among the judges, and even a section of the media. Though the Chief Justice is examining the entire issue “very seriously”, it seems that the Bar and others will have to wait for sometime before the matter is made public.
As of now, the Chief Justice is waiting for complete report of the investigation carried out by the Chandigarh Police for reaching a final decision in the matter. It is evident that the Chief Justice is going through the evidence meticulously and has no intentions of rushing through the matter.
Earlier during the day, Judicial Magistrate Mahesh Kumar remanded property dealer Rajiv Gupta to four-day police custody. The prosecution claimed the general power of autonomy (GPA) regarding sale of land was forged. It was created as an alibi to cover up the allegations of a Judge being offered bribe.
Gupta was the GPA holder of the plot, for which Bansal had claimed the money was meant for. The special public prosecutor Gupta and Bansal knew each other for long. In a 1996 case of receiving stolen property against Gupta, Bansal was his lawyer. The two had several properties in joint ownership.
The statement of Bansal’s clerk Parkash Ram was also recorded under Section 164 of the CrPC. It means the police intends to use accused Ram as a prosecution witness. In a related development, the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana unanimously decided to take suo-motu action against Bansal. The council resolved that the matter should be referred to the CBI.
