Chandigarh, August 27
The investigations into the ‘cash-at-judge’s house’ case were today formally handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The CBI, which was reportedly asked by the Chandigarh administration on the advise of Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Tirath Singh Thakur to take over the investigations, has accepted the task.

So the case against former Haryana additional advocate-general Sanjeev Bansal, Delhi-based hotelier Ravinder Singh, at whose behest Rs 15 lakh were allegedly wrongly delivered at the residence of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur, and others will now be investigated by the CBI.

The development was on the cards as Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishan, had reportedly suggested to Justice Thakur to opt for a probe by the CBI.

While senior officials of the Chandigarh police are obviously relieved, the development, by many, is being viewed as a failure of the city police.

Officials claim that one of the main reasons for the transfer of the case was that the police had failed to prevent “leakage” of information related to the investigations.

Sources said though the matter was sensitive and was being monitored closely by the High Court, the police could not prevent the “leaks”, which were causing immense embarrassment to all those allegedly involved in the case.

The other apparent reason was failure of the police to nab main accused Ravinder Singh resulting in the police could not establish the motive behind the incident.

Ravinder has been absconding for the past 14 days and the police virtually have no clue about his whereabouts.

While reports appearing in a section of the press claimed that even the UT police was keen to let go of the investigations and had requested the administrator to recommend a CBI probe, IG SK Jain preferred to reserve his comment.