A woman has been arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Pune branch, for seeking & accepting a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh, alleging that the judgment of the case will be in favor of the complainant by personally ‘managing’ the Court.
Since the accused woman turned out to be an imposter, under the scanner of the ACB, a Judge of the Vadgaon Maval Court came in. The judge was in touch with Shubhavari Bhalchandra Gaikwad (29), a resident of Talegaon, the accused defendant. The Judge, a First-Class Judicial Magistrate (JMFC), has requested anticipatory bail from the Court of Pune District & Sessions.
The Court is yet to provide the JMFC with relief. “The claimant is an officer of the court. What is evident from the papers is that she was in touch with the main defendant, Shubhavari Gaikwad, who was caught by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in a pit. A frequency of phone calls between herself and the key accused emerges, proceeding by the declaration of the claimant annexed to the application. The arguments are rather serious in nature. Given the seriousness of the charges and considering the general circumstances of the case, no temporary relief can be offered to the public servant until the State is given an opportunity to hear,’ the District Court noted in order when hearing the pre-arrest bail of JMFC.
According to ACB, Shubhavari impersonated the Court as an employee (identifying herself as Mhatre) & asked a milk businessman to bribe Rs 5 lakh saying that she will handle the pending case in the Vadgaon Maval Court & resolve the case for him. After he did not return the milk cooling system, Amul, the popular dairy cooperative corporation, filed a lawsuit against the businessman. To resolve this case, Shubhavari called the businessman. She had even let him speak to two people saying they were judges.
The businessman approached the ACB, however, which laid a trap and caught Shubhavari red-handed while taking the bribe on January 13 at Kivale phata. The bribe sum was taken down to Rs 2.5 lakh after the agreement.
On the basis of the businessman’s statement, an FIR was filed at the Dehuroad police station against Shubhavari and other unidentified individuals. Pursuant to sections 7 & 12 of the Prohibition of Corruption Act, the case was registered for offences.
