The Bombay High Court on Monday denied anticipatory bail to a Satara District and Sessions Judge accused of soliciting ₹5 lakh bribe in exchange for granting bail in a cheating case [Dhananjay Nikam v State of Maharashtra].Single-judge Justice NR Borkar denied relief to accused-judge Dhananjay Nikam after hearing both the judge and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).The proceedings were held in-camera (not open to public). .Nikam (46) was booked by the State ACB for allegedly seeking the bribe through two intermediaries—Kishor Sambhaji Kharat from Mumbai and Anand Mohan Kharat from Satara.According to the ACB, the Kharat brothers approached the complainant in the case and demanded the bribe on Nikam’s behalf.As per the ACB, their investigation showed that Nikam was involved in the bribery and had acted in collusion with the intermediaries..In his anticipatory bail petition, Nikam strongly denied the accusations, calling them false. He argued that there was no evidence linking him directly to any bribe demand or acceptance of money. Nikam also pointed out that he was on leave or deputation during the time the alleged bribe was discussed and had not been involved in the case. He further claimed that he had neither issued any bail orders nor promised any favorable decisions. .Additionally, Nikam emphasized that he had no knowledge of any meetings between the complainant and the intermediaries.During an earlier hearing, the High Court had ordered a branch of the HDFC Bank in Satara to provide CCTV footage from December 9, 2024.This was after the Court was told that the footage could support the prosecution's claim that an incriminating conversation took place between the accused-judge and the complainant while they were traveling towards HDFC bank in a car.After carefully considering the arguments and facts, the Court today denied anticipatory bail to Nikam..Senior Advocate Ashok Mundargi along with advocates Jayant Bardeskar, Barsha Parulekar instructed by advocate Vresh Purwant appeared for Dhananjay Nikam.Additional Public Prosecutor Veera Shinde appeared for the State.
