A court on Monday granted bail to the lawyer husband of a senior judge and another lawyer arrested in a corruption case.
Senior Civil Judge Rachna Tiwari Lakhanpal at the Tis Hazari court, her lawyer husband Alok Lakhanpal and lawyer Vishal Mehan were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on September 28.
Special Central Bureau of Investigation Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal granted bail to Alok Lakhanpal and Vishal Mehan and asked them to furnish personal bonds of Rs 50,000 each and sureties of like amount.
The court directed the accused to surrender their passports and not to leave the country without its permission. They were told not to contact any witness in the case or tamper with evidence.
Alok Lakhanpal had sought bail on the ground of parity with his wife Rachna, who was bailed out on October 3.
The CBI opposed the bail pleas of the two on the ground that they were directly involved in the conspiracy.
As per the CBI, a complaint was received on September 27 that the judge had appointed Mehan as a Local Commissioner in a civil case she was adjudicating and had allegedly demanded a bribe.
A CBI team first arrested Mehan while he was allegedly accepting the money from the complainant on behalf of Rachna Lakhanpal on the pretext of getting the court decision in his favour in the disputed property case.
During his questioning, Mehan allegedly said the money was meant to be handed over to her.
"Subsequently, Mehan handed over the bribe money to the judge at her residence. She kept Rs 4 lakh and gave back Rs 1 lakh to him just before a CBI team arrested her," a CBI officer said after her arrest on September 28.
The agency said a raid was conducted at her Gulabi Bagh residence on the night of September 28 and Rs 94 lakh was seized.
Her husband was arrested on charge of playing a crucial role in the bribery case.
--IANS
akk/tsb/mr
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
