Cash-at-door scam: Court orders CBI to probe more

CHANDIGARH - A special court here Friday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to further probe a case in which Rs.1.5 million were recovered from outside the door of a Punjab and Haryana High Court judge’s house nearly 19 months ago.

CBI special court judge Darshan Singh also dismissed a petition filed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association opposing the CBI’s request to close the case, also known as the cash-at-door scam.

The court fixed May 26 for the next hearing.

The CBI December last year filed a closure report in the case as it did not get the sanction to prosecute some of the main suspects.

The scam came to light after a packet containing Rs.1.5 million was delivered Aug 13, 2008 at the door of Sector 11 residence of newly-appointed high court judge Nirmaljit Kaur.

She complained to police and got a case registered.

Police later arrested the (then) Haryana additional advocate general Sanjeev Bansal, property dealer Rajiv Gupta and Delhi-based hotelier Ravinder Singh.

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 later delivered at Yadav’s Sector 24 official residence.

Yadav, who went on leave Aug 22 after her name figured in the case, was recently transferred to the Uttrakhand High Court.

While the case was handed over from Chandigarh Police to the CBI, the Supreme Court also set up a committee of senior judges to investigate the matter separately.