CBI arrests senior judge, husband in bribery case

CBI has arrested a senior judge of Tis Hazari court and her husband here while allegedly receiving a bribe of Rs 4 lakhs from a lawyer, who was appointed as local commissioner in a case adjudicated by her.

Rachna Tiwari Lakhanpal, Senior Civil Judge, Tis Hazari court was arrested last night while allegedly accepting bribe of Rs 4 lakhs from an advocate at her residence in Gulabi Bagh. The advocate Vishal Mehan was also arrested by the agency, sources said.

Alok Lakhanpal, husband of the judge, has also been arrested in the case, they said.

During searches at the judge's residence, cash amounting to Rs 94 lakhs was seized by the agency along with two locker keys and other material, CBI spokesperson R K Gaur said here today.
 

"A case was registered under Prevention of Corruption Act against the advocate 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 Rs 2 lakhs for himself as well as Rs 20 lakhs for the said Senior Civil Judge for deciding the matter in favour of the complainant," he said.

The spokesperson said CBI teams laid a trap at the designated place where the bribe was to be allegedly paid by the advocate Vishal Mehan.

As the bribe was being allegedly paid, CBI teams swung into action and nabbed the lawyer while he was "receiving" a bribe of Rs five lakhs purportedly on behalf of Lakhanpal, he said.

During initial questioning, the advocate told the sleuths that the money was allegedly meant for the judge, Gaur said.

The team then took the accused advocate to the residence of the judge where he allegedly handed over Rs 5 lakhs to Lakhanpal while she gave Rs one lakh to the lawyer as his cut, he said.

"The alleged bribe money of Rs 5 lakhs was recovered by CBI," the spokesperson added.