Pune: Two Arrested in Rs 5 Lakh Bribe Case Involving Satara Judge
Pune/Satara, 18th December 2024: A significant arrest was made on Tuesday in connection with a high-profile bribery case in Satara, involving a demand for Rs. 5 lakh for a bail application. Among those arrested was an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) from the Mumbai police, Kishor Sambhaji Kharat, and Anand Mohan Kharat, both of whom were charged in the case. The two men were formally arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Pune unit after they surrendered to the Satara court earlier this week.
“We approached the court on Tuesday to secure a production warrant for ASI Kishor Kharat and Anand Kharat following their surrender before the Satara Principal District and Sessions Judge,” said an officer from the ACB. “After obtaining the warrant, the two were produced before a special ACB court, which granted a remand in police custody until December 21.”
Kishor Kharat, a resident of BDD Chawl in Mumbai’s Worli area, hails from Sangli district, while Anand Kharat is from Kharatwadi village in Satara. The two had been evading arrest after an FIR was registered against them by the ACB.
The bribery case came to light after the Satara sessions judge, Vinayak Rajaram Joshi, rejected an anticipatory bail application filed by the additional sessions judge in question. On December 13, Judge Joshi observed, “The connection between the anticipatory bail applicant and the accused, Kishor Kharat, is prima facie evident.”
According to ACB officials, the additional sessions judge is believed to have worked with Kishor Kharat, Anand Kharat, and an unnamed accomplice, allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs. 5 lakh from a 24-year-old woman from Pune. She had approached the court seeking bail for her father, who was in judicial custody in connection with a Rs. 41 lakh job fraud case.
The woman, in her complaint to the ACB, claimed that the additional sessions judge drove her and Kishor Kharat to a spot near the Satara court complex on December 9. According to her, the judge and Kharat discussed the bail matter using coded language in the car.
A trap was set by the ACB on December 10, where the middlemen were expected to accept the bribe at a hotel in Satara. However, the operation was unsuccessful as the suspects fled upon sensing the authorities’ presence.
“We have sought permission from the Bombay High Court to arrest the additional sessions judge involved in the case and are awaiting the court’s approval,” said the ACB officer.
