Nirmal Yadav's plea dismissed by High Court

Justice Permod Kohli rejected the petition filed by Justice Yadav under Section 482 of CrPC, in which she had sought quashing of the criminal proceedings against her.

Yadav's counsel and senior advocate KTS Tulsi had contended that once the then Chief Justice of India (CJI) K G Balakrishnan had denied prosecution sanction, the present CJI S H Kapadia had no power to review the decision and grant a fresh sanction.
He maintained in the court that the issue of sanction for prosecution "once decided attains finality and he (present CJI) has no powers to review or reconsider it".

However, in a detailed 55-page judgement, Justice Kohli observed that there was no decision, noting or order by former CJI Balakrishnan declining the sanction.

The Judge observed that the record confirmed that Justice Kapadia had examined the question of sanction for prosecution for the first time and it had not been examined by Justice Balakrishnan earlier.

According to Anupam Gupta, Special Public Prosecutor for CBI, the High Court here had summoned records from CBI, Central Government and the Law Ministry.

While maintaining that there was no question of any review, Justice Kohli also mentioned that even otherwise the CBI did produce fresh evidence as directed.

Regarding information sought by Yadav seeking disclosure of notings regarding her prosecution sanction in the case, the Judge observed that the accused has no right to access records before charges are framed by the trial court and added that she can apply for the same in the trial court later.