Cash-at-Judge’s door: Accused admits to sending Rs 15 lakh to Justice Yadav

“It is my money. I decided to purchase land in Solan and contacted Nirmal Yadav. I had sent the cash packet for joint purchase of land in Solan. This fact can be corroborated since I am the co-purchaser of the said land,” said Singh.

On the alleged involvement of former additional advocate general,Haryana,Sanjeev Bansal,a co-accused in the case,Singh said he had used him as a “courier to deliver the money”.

He said Bansal had come to Delhi on August 13,2008 in connection with a case in the Supreme Court. Saying he met Bansal in his hotel,Singh said: “Since Sanjeev was heading to Chandigarh,I asked him to deliver the money to Nirmal Yadav”.

Singh said “the money was delivered to her”,adding that “the CBI,for reasons known best to it,has deliberately shifted the focus of the case towards purchase of a plot in Panchkula.”

In the past,Singh has always denied that he had sent the money. He had also denied before the Gokhale Committee,constituted by the Supreme Court and comprising three High Court judges,that the money belonged to him.

While admitting that he was a “close” family friend,Justice Yadav,who retired in March this year,had also denied that he had sent her any money.

However,Singh has now admitted that he sent the money on August 13,2008,and has decided to approach the court to tell the “truth”.

The case came to light when a packet containing Rs 15 lakh,intended for Justice Yadav,was wrongly delivered at the residence of another judge with the same first name.

In its chargesheet,the CBI had said that while investigations revealed that the cash belonged to Singh,he had denied ownership.

“The disputed amount of Rs 15 lakh may be confiscated to the State as none of the suspects have claimed their rightful ownership of this amount during the investigation till date,” the CBI had said in its investigation report seeking closure of the case.