Delhi civil judge caught taking Rs4 lakh bribe; CBI seizes Rs94 lakh in search
30 Sep 2016
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday arrested a senior civil judge of Tis Hazari courts, Rachna Tiwari Lakhanpal and her husband while allegedly receiving a bribe from an advocate who was appointed by her as local commissioner in a case adjudicated by her.
CBI spokesperson RK Gaur said Lakhanpal, posted at Tiz Hazari Courts, was arrested on Wednesday night while accepting a bribe of Rs4 lakh from the advocate, Vishal Mehan, at her residence in Gulabi Bagh.
CBI also arrested Mehan and the Judge's husband Alok Lakhanpal who were allegedly working in tandem for receiving the bribe for the judge.
CBI officers, working on a complaint filed by a private person whose case was being heard in Tiz Hazari courts, also recovered cash amounting to Rs94 lakh from the judge's residence along with two locker keys and other material.
"A case was registered under section 7 and 8 of Prevention of Corruption Act (which deals with the offence related to gratification) against Mehan on a complaint alleging that in a matter being heard by a senior civil judge (West), Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi, she had appointed him as local commissioner for conducting an inspection of the disputed property and submitting his report. The advocate (appointed as local commissioner) allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs2 lakh for himself as well as Rs20 lakh for the said Rachna Tiwari Lakhanpal for deciding the matter in favour of the complainant," Gaur said.
The spokesperson said CBI laid a trap at the designated place where the bribe was to be allegedly paid by the advocate Vishal Mehan. The team swung into action as the alleged bribe was being handed over by the complainant to the lawyer.
The team then took the advocate to the residence of the judge where he allegedly handed over Rs5 lakh to Lakhanpal and received back Rs1 lakh as his share, he said, adding that the CBI recovered the entire bribe money of Rs5 lakh.
During initial questioning, the advocate told CBI sleuths that the money was allegedly meant for the judge, Gaur said.
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