By IANS,
Chandigarh: In a new twist in the cash-for-judge scam, the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association Monday filed a plea in a local court here, challenging the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) closure report submitted December last year.
“We have filed an appeal challenging the closure report as we want the court to give us a chance to argue. This case involved judges and lawyers of our high court, so we obviously have an interest in it,” lawyer Navkiran Singh, who filed this appeal on behalf of the bar association, told IANS.
“We want the prosecution of the accused in this case. The CBI said that they did not get permission for prosecution from the CJI (chief justice of India). It is wrong because they can also seek these sanctions from the president of India,” he added.
Meanwhile, Amrik Singh, the complainant in the scam, submitted his reply in the CBI court Monday.
Special CBI Judge Darshan Singh had asked Amrik Singh, who worked in the office of Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge Nirmaljit Kaur, to file his reply after CBI submitted its sealed final report in the scam, seeking cancellation of the case Dec 24.
“We have submitted our reply, in the court, which contains the detailed account of the events pertaining to this case. We have full belief in the court and its justice, and now it is up to the court to decide further,” Amrik Singh’s lawyer Rajdeep Singh Cheema told IANS.
The next hearing of the case is slated Feb 15.
The scam surfaced after a packet containing Rs.1.5 million in cash was delivered Aug 13, 2008, at the Sector 11 residence of Nirmaljit Kaur, the newly appointed to the high court. She complained to police and a case was registered.
The (then) Haryana additional advocate general Sanjeev Bansal, a property dealer Rajiv Gupta and Delhi-based hotelier Ravinder Singh were later arrested.
Bansal and Gupta told 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 official residence later on.
Yadav, who went on leave Aug 22, after her name figured in the bribery scandal, has now been transferred to Uttrakhand High Court.