Chandigarh, Mar 30 (UNI) A CBI court has acquitted a former Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge, whose name figured in an alleged bribery and corruption case 17 years back,
Besides Justice Nirmal Yadav, and other accused Ravinder Singh Bhaseen, Rajiv Gupta and Nirmal Singh were also acquitted in the sensational "Cash at Door" case of 2008 by the court on Saturday.
One of the accused Sanjeev Bansal passed away in the interim period.
Judge Alka Malik acquitted all the accused citing lack of evidence and contradictions in witness statements.
It may be mentioned that a bag containing Rs 15 lakh was delivered to the house of Nirmal Yadav's namesake, another High Court Judge, Nirmaljeet Kaur.
It had then been alleged that the cash was meant for Justice Yadav but got wrongly delivered to Justice Kaur's residence following confusion over their similar names.
Kaur informed the police and the then Punjab and Haryana HC Chief Justice, and an FIR was lodged on August 16, 2008. Days later, the case was handed over to the CBI, which filed a fresh FIR on August 28.
The CBI had filed a closure report in the case in December 2009, but the court ordered further investigation after a submitted by then CBI prosecutor Anupam Gupta.
The President of India had sanctioned Justice Yadav's prosecution in March 2011, prompting the CBI to lodge a chargesheet.
In July 2013, the special CBI court ordered the framing of charges against the accused, which was done in January 2014. UNI GS SSP