Judge bribery case: Court rejects CBI closure report

In a significant development,Special CBI Judge (Chandigarh) Darshan Singh on Friday refused to give a quiet burial to the judge bribery case....

In a significant development,Special CBI Judge (Chandigarh) Darshan Singh on Friday refused to give a quiet burial to the judge bribery case. The CBI judge refused to accept the closure report of the case filed on the ground that the investigating agency did not get sanction to prosecute Justice Nirmal Yadav,allegedly involved in the case.

Singh ruled that the court would not accept the closure report and that further investigation was required. The CBI has been directed to further investigate the matter,complete the investigation and submit a detailed report by May 26.

Meanwhile,the court rejected an intervening application filed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association holding that it did not have a locus standi in the case. The Bar Association had filed the application protesting against the closure report.

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As per the court order,application of Ravinder Singh,an accused and a Delhi-based hotelier,was dismissed and that of complainant Amrik Singh on the closure report was also rendered infructuous. Amrik Singh,peon of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur,is the complainant in the case.

Anupam Gupta,who is representing the Bar,said,The Bar is happy that the court has ordered further investigation and not given a quiet burial to the case by accepting the closure report filed by the CBI. We stand vindicated.

The role of the CBI will now be under close scrutiny of the Bar Association as it is accountable to the nation, he said,adding that after going through the orders,the Bar would place it in the General House of the association and challenge in the High Court the order that the Bar did not have any locus standi in the case.