Shameful first: CBI to question two HC judges

New Delhi: For the first time in the country’s history, two High Court judges will be questioned in a corruption case.

Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan on Tuesday allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to question Nirmaljit Kaur and Nirmal Yadav, judges at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, in connection with a corruption scandal in Chandigarh.

The corruption case began when Parkash Ram, an assistant to Haryana's then Additional Advocate General Sanjeev Bansal, on August 13 delivered a parcel containing Rs 15 lakh at the residence of Nirmaljit Kaur.

Kaur immediately called the police. A probe zeroed in on Rajeev Gupta, Bansal’s friend and a property dealer, who claims that the money reached Kaur’s home by mistake and actually was meant for another property dealer.

A case was registered against Bansal, Ram and Delhi-based hotelier Ravinder Singh, who allegedly organised the money. Bansal resigned and he and Gupta are now under arrest.

The Inspector General of Police on August 21 sent a report to the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, saying that the money was meant for another judge. Justice Yadav went on leave the next day.

Bansal has allegedly confessed to the police that the cash was to be sent to another judge and not to Nirmalijit Kaur. They said the money went to her house erroneously.

Police investigations have found that the money was related to a property deal that a number of people, including the judge, had made in Himachal Pradesh's Solan district.

Balakrishnan’s permission to the CBI follows another scandal in the judiciary. The Central Government this week accepted Balakrishnan’s recommendation of launching impeachment proceedings against Calcutta High Court judge Soumitra Sen, who is accused of serious financial “misconduct”.

(With reporting by CNN-IBN Correspondent Ashok Bagariya)