Mumbai: Court clerk held in Rs 15 lakh bribe case seeks bail again | Mumbai News
Mumbai: Court clerk Chandrakant Vasudev (40) who was allegedly caught red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 15 lakh on Nov 11, has moved a second bail plea citing month long incarceration. Vasudev submitted that his custody was not required for further investigations. The bribe was purportedly meant for an additional sessions judge who is yet to be arrested. The prosecution opposed the plea. The matter will come up for hearing on Thursday. Vasudev was a clerk-typist at the civil sessions court, Mazgaon.The chain of events that led to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) trap began on Sept 9. According to the ACB’s remand plea, the complainant’s colleague attended a hearing in a long-standing property dispute. The complainant and his wife, who ran a business, had accused two persons of forcibly occupying a commercial property belonging to them in Kurla. The dispute had been pending since 2015. On April 27, 2016, the high court granted a stay on the creation of third party rights over the property. In March 2024, the high court transferred this case to the Civil Sessions Court, Mazgaon as a “Commercial Suit”.On Sept 12, Vasudev initially demanded Rs 25 lakh. He is alleged to have claimed that Rs 10 lakh was for himself and Rs 15 lakh for the judge. The complainant refused.Vasudev was a resident of Uran and used to travel to court via boat from “Bhaucha Dhakka”, a ferry terminal. Vasudev continued to pursue the demand, eventually bringing the final bribe amount down to Rs 15 lakh on Sept 13 and directed the complainant to bring it to Uran. On Nov 8, Vasudev allegedly warned the complainant’s colleague that the case would go against him if the money wasn’t paid.The ACB team visited the judge’s quarters at Churchgate on Nov 12, but found it locked, necessitating a house sealing panchnama.The ACB had seized evidence, including the accepted bribe money, recordings of the mobile conversations, video recordings, and Vasudev’s mobile phone, which allegedly contained WhatsApp calls and messages between the two accused.
