Chandigarh, September 16
Surprising but true, Sanjeev Bansal made and received 75 calls on his mobile phone in just over three hours after his clerk erroneously delivered Rs 15 lakh at the residence of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur on August 13.
Those in touch with the former law officer during the
crucial moments after the mistake included Punjab and Haryana High Court judges and co-accused in the case Ravinder Singh.
Bansal is the prime accused in the “cash on judge’s doorstep” case. He, along with his two clerks, and Ravinder Singh, are behind bars on allegations of attempting to bribe a judge.
The case was registered on a complaint made on behalf of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur on August 13. Already, Justice
Nirmal Yadav has proceeded on leave after her name surfaced, and a three-judge committee set up by the Chief Justice of India is looking into the matter.
The information about the phone calls was furnished to Justice AN Jindal this morning by representative counsel of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association, while seeking the court’s permission to become an intervener in Ravinder Singh’s anticipatory bail plea.
The fact was brought to the fore in an attempt to buttress the Bar Association’s contention that Bansal realised things had gone terribly amiss immediately after his clerk was handed over to the police.
The name of Justice Nirmal Yadav as the intended recipient also figured prominently in the arguments. Opposing the bail plea on behalf of the CBI, standing counsel Anmol Rattan Sidhu read out clerk Jai Parkash Rana’s statement.
Rana in his signed statement had said: “That on August 13, in the evening I was present in the office when I received intercom message from madam (Mrs Sanjeev Bansal) that as per the message received from Sanjeev Bansal, a packet containing money sent by Ravinder ji of Delhi has to be delivered at the residence of madam Nirmal Yadav. I sent Parkash (the
second clerk) to Mrs Sanjeev Bansal, who went to deliver the packet containing money, but later on it transpires that by mistake he had delivered the packet at the house of madam Nirmaljit”.
Reference was also made to Sanjeev Bansal’s statement given on the day of his arrest on August 20. “I was handed over a packet containing Rs 15 lakh by Ravinder and I was told to deliver it at the Justice Yadav’s house upon reaching Chandigarh”.
Describing Ravinder Singh as “judge fixer par excellence”, the Bar Association counsel said he and Bansal were in touch with each other till August 16. Soonafter, Ravinder Singh disappeared.
After hearing the arguments for over one and a half hours, Justice Jindal reserved the orders. Justice Jindal said he would pronounce the orders in a day or two.
