Mumbai: The Bombay High Court recently ordered a branch of HDFC Bank in Satara to provide CCTV footage from December 9, 2024, to Dhananjay Nikam, 46, a District and Sessions Judge implicated in a bribery case.
Justice NR Borkar passed the order on January 15 while hearing a plea filed by Nikam seeking pre-arrest bail in the bribery case registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 5 lakh to grant bail in a cheating case. Justice Borkar is hearing the matter in chambers, given the involvement of a judicial officer.
In a detailed order, the court noted that, according to the prosecution, the complainant sat in Nikam’s car near the PWD Office. The car then proceeded towards his residential quarters and passed the HDFC Bank branch in question.
“The applicant then, on the way to his residential quarters, drove the car towards HDFC Bank. It is alleged that the incriminating conversation between the applicant and the complainant took place while they were traveling in the car towards HDFC Bank,” the judge noted.
Nikam’s counsel, senior advocate Ashok Mundargi and advocate Viresh Purvant, submitted that they had made an application to HDFC Bank for CCTV footage of December 9. However, the bank refused to provide the footage, citing confidentiality norms in the absence of specific orders from the court or a competent authority.
Mundargi argued that if the alleged meeting took place near HDFC Bank as claimed by the prosecution, it would have been captured on the bank’s CCTV.
“Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the HDFC Bank, Mutha Colony, near Civil Hospital, Sadar Bazar, Satara, shall provide CCTV footage dated 9.12.2024 to the applicant (Nikam) within a period of one week,” Justice Borkar ordered, while listing the matter for hearing on January 27.
In his plea, Nikam claimed innocence, asserting that he had been falsely implicated. He argued that the FIR does not show any direct demand or acceptance of money by him. He further contended that he was neither aware of meetings between the complainant and the other accused — Kishor Sambhaji Kharat from Mumbai and Anand Mohan Kharat from Satara — nor of the complainant’s connection to the accused seeking bail. The plea also highlighted that Nikam was on leave or deputation on key dates, raising doubts about the allegations.
The ACB claimed that the bribe demand was verified during their investigation between December 3 and 9, confirming that Nikam, in collusion with the Kharats, sought the bribe. The ACB has booked Nikam, the Kharats, and an unidentified individual under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
