Clerk threatened if bribe not paid, the case could go against complainant in Mumbai: ACB

The ACB has claimed that the complainant had sent an associate to the civil court in Mazgaon on September 9 for a hearing on a civil dispute regarding a forcible possession of land belonging to his company. The clerk had then allegedly called out to the associate and asked him to meet him in the washroom. Vasudev allegedly then told him, ‘sahebansathi kahi tari kara, order tumchya bazune hoil, (if you do something for sir, the order will be in your favour). Vasudev gave his phone number to the associate and asked him to pass it on to his employer, the complainant in the case. The complainant called the clerk on WhatsApp and the clerk told him to meet him.
On September 12, they met at a cafe in Chembur where the clerk allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 25 lakh–claiming that Rs 10 lakh was for him, and Rs 15 lakh for the judge. The complainant refused to pay the amount. After the meeting, Vasudev allegedly sought that a cab be booked for him from Chembur to his residence in Uran in Navi Mumbai, which the complainant did.

The ACB has claimed that on the next day, Vasudev again called the complainant and re-negotiated the demand, settling for Rs 15 lakh as the ‘final amount’. When the complainant did not respond to the offer, even subsequently, the clerk called him again, the ACB claims. “On November 8, 2025, the accused called the complainant’s associate on WhatsApp, and told him that if the bribe is not paid, an order will be passed against them in the case,” the ACB remand plea said. Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant then approached the ACB, the remand application said.

After a verification of the demand was done through a WhatsApp call between Vasudev and the complainant, the ACB set up a trap and Vasudev was arrested on November 11, when he met the complainant and accepted the bribe amount at the same Chembur coffee chain. The ACB claims that the clerk told the officials that the bribe was collected on behalf of the judge. A WhatsApp call was then made from the clerk’s phone to the judge, who allegedly acknowledged the receipt of the bribe amount when the clerk informed him about it. The ACB alleges that the judge told the clerk to come with the amount to his home, and the call was recorded in presence of independent witnesses.
The ACB officials also conducted a search of the clerk’s mobile handset, where calls and messages between the clerk and judge were seen, including one message sent after the trap, asking the clerk to come to his home, unaware about his arrest. During the probe, Vasudev informed the police that he had been assigned as the clerk in the judge’s court for a year, and that they shared a cordial interaction. The clerk has ‘explained’ the calls between them, stating that the judge would frequently help him in his personal and domestic issues.

The ACB remand plea said that there was ‘active participation’ of the judge in the alleged offence and a probe with him was necessary and the Bombay High Court was approached for necessary permissions as per procedure. The ACB has sealed the residence of the judge, after a team which went for a search found the residence closed. Additional public prosecutor Prabhakar Tarange sought judicial custody of the clerk on Monday, who was then sent to jail for two weeks. Vasudev’s lawyer, Vijay Desai, filed for bail, which will be heard on Friday.