Court official held for taking Rs 25 lakh bribe from hotelier in Mumbai

Mumbai: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested an official from the Court of Small Causes here for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 25 lakh from a hotelier for settling a case in his favour, an official said on Tuesday.

Based on a complaint, a team from the ACB laid a trap at a hotel in the LT Marg area on Monday and caught the accused, Vishal Chandrakant Sawant, while accepting the bribe amount, the official said.

The accused is a translator-interpreter at the Court of Small Causes, he said.

The complainant, a hotelier, has alleged that Sawant demanded Rs 25 lakh from him to settle a pending case of hotel ownership rights in his favour, he said.

The accused official was arrested under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and further investigation is underway, the official added.