A special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Chandigarh on Saturday acquitted former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Nirmal Yadav and three others in a corruption case dating back to 2008, reported Live Law.

Along with Yadav, Additional Sessions judge Alka Malik also acquitted Ravinder Singh Bhasin, Rajiv Gupta and Nirmal Singh, according to India Today. Another accused person, former Additional Advocate General of Haryana Sanjeev Bansal, died in February 2017. Consequently, the proceedings against him were dropped.

On August 13, 2008, a bag containing Rs 15 lakh in cash was allegedly delivered to the home of another former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge, Justice Nirmaljit Kaur. It was alleged that the cash was meant for Yadav to influence a case pertaining to a property deal. However, it was mistakenly delivered to Kaur’s home due to the judges’ similar names.

A first information report was registered in the case on August 16, 2008. Ten days later, the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which filed a fresh FIR on August 28, 2008.

The central agency’s investigation showed that the cash was delivered by a clerk of Bansal, reported The Indian Express. Bansal had allegedly called Kaur and told her that the bag was mistakenly delivered to her.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had sought approval to prosecute Yadav in January 2009. The High Court granted the sanction in November 2010 and the president of India approved it in March 2011.

Meanwhile, Yadav was transferred to the Uttarakhand High Court after her name cropped up in the case. The central agency charge-sheeted Yadav on March 4, 2011, the day of her retirement.

After the Supreme Court dismissed her petition seeking a stay on proceedings in 2014, the special Central Bureau of Investigation court framed charges against her.

The central agency claimed during the proceedings that it had recovered a pen drive which contained an affidavit mentioning details of the transaction, reported The Indian Express.

Appearing for Yadav, advocate Vishal Garg Narwana had argued that several witnesses did not support the prosecution’s claim, and those who did had several contradictions in their statements.

The judgement comes amid a row regarding allegations that unaccounted cash was allegedly recovered at Justice Yashwant Varma’s official residence when emergency services responded to a fire there on March 14. The judge said he was in Bhopal at the time and claimed that the cash did not belong to him or his family.

On March 22, the Supreme Court released a report including a video and three photographs showing bundles of notes that were allegedly recovered from the judge’s home. The court had also set up a three-member committee to look into the allegations against Varma.

Also read: Why Indian judges enjoy de facto impunity when it comes to corruption allegations