By IANS,
Chandigarh: Supreme Court Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan Saturday refused to comment on the controversial cash-for-judge scam involving two judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, saying the question should be addressed elsewhere.
Asked by the reporters here Saturday about the status of the case, Balakrishnan said: “I cannot comment on this issue. You can talk to your chief (chief justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court) regarding this case. You can ask me anything about the judiciary.”
Balakrishnan was here Saturday to inaugurate the newly built campus of the Chandigarh Judicial Academy (for Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh).
The scam came to light when a packet containing Rs.1.5 million in cash was delivered Aug 13, 2008, at the Sector 11 residence of newly-appointed high court judge Nirmaljit Kaur. She complained to the police and a case was registered.
The police later arrested the (then) Haryana additional advocate general Sanjeev Bansal, property dealer Rajiv Gupta and a Delhi-based hotelier Ravinder Singh, who were later released on bail.
Bansal and Gupta told the police that the money was meant for another high court judge, Nirmal Yadav. They claimed that another packet containing Rs.1.5 million was separately delivered to Yadav at her Sector 24 official residence.
Yadav had gone on an indefinite leave a few days after this incident. However, she wrote a letter to High court Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur last week seeking permission to resume her duties in the court as the enquiry had not found her guilty.