HC adjourns cash-for-judge case till July 14

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday adjourned till July 14 proceedings in the cash-for-judge scam case. The case was adjourned after the law ministry sought more time to file a reply to whether the sanction to prosecute retired Justice Nirmal Yadav was initially turned down.

Justice Permod Kohli refused to stay the trial and fixed July 14 as the next date of hearing, giving the law ministry more time to respond to the query raised by the court on May 20.

Yadav also moved an application seeking summoning of files referring to her transfer from the Punjab and Haryana high court to the Uttarakhand high court.

On May 20, the court had directed the ministry of law and justice to file an affidavit clarifying if any opinion in writing was given by the then Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, which had eventually led to filing of closure report in the case by the CBI.

The court had also issued a notice to the centre after making it a party to a petition filed by Yadav.

The law ministry on Wednesday failed to file an affidavit as per the court's directive and sought minimum 15 more days to respond to the query.

The CBI, in its closure report in December 2009, had said that the competent authority had refused to grant sanction to prosecute Yadav.

Former High Court Judge Yadav had petitioned in the court on March 4 seeking quashing of the fresh charge sheet filed by the CBI in the case against her.

The name of Justice Yadav had surfaced in the cash-for-judge scam, as the alleged bribe of Rs 15 lakh erroneously landed at the house of another High Court Judge, Nirmaljit Kaur, who reported the matter to Chandigarh police.