Chief Justice of India (CJI) K G Balakrishnan is learnt to have issued a notice to Justice Nirmal Yadav of the Punjab and Haryana High Court,seeking her comments on allegations of impropriety against her. Sources say further action in the matter would be considered after her reply to the notice is received. In its report submitted recently to the CJI,a three-judge in-house panel,which probed the cash-at-judges door scandal,had indicted Yadav on the issue of impropriety due to her alleged close links with Delhi-based hotelier Ravinder Singh,who is also named in the case. Yadav,who continues to be on a long leave,has also been informed about the contents of the report of the in-house panel. The panel,while ruling out direct involvement of any sitting Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in any act of corruption,had raised questions over Yadavs links with Ravinder Singh. In fact,there were also allegations that Yadav and some of her relatives had had business transactions with Ravinder Singh. However,immediately after the cash-at-Judges doorsteps scandal came to light,Yadav had told The Indian Express that she was a victim of a vilification campaign. She had also acknowledged knowing Ravinder Singh. The in-house committee comprised Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Hemant Laxman Gokhale,Gujarat High Court Chief Justice K S Radhakrishnan and Delhi High Court Justice Madan B Lokur. The matter pertains to mistaken delivery of Rs 15 lakh at the home of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur in which Yadav had gone on leave after her name cropped up during preliminary investigations. The money had been delivered by the clerk of a former Additional Advocate General,Haryana,Sanjeev Bansal,who was removed from his post immediately after the scandal erupted. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is also probing the matter. As part of its probe,the panel had examined the two Judges,Bansal,his clerk,the elderly couple,believed to be owners of the land bought by Yadav,and her relatives under questionable circumstances in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh. Meanwhile,sources told The Indian Express that the CJI is awaiting a report from the CBI before taking action on a bigger scale.
