Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has dismissed two lower court judges for misconduct and actions deemed unbecoming of judicial officers.
Additional Sessions Judge Dhananjay Nikam and Civil Judge Irfan Shaikh were removed following an inquiry by a disciplinary committee. While Nikam faced allegations of bribery, Shaikh, who handled cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, was accused of corruption and misappropriating narcotic substances seized during investigations. A petition against Shaikh is still pending in the high court.
The dismissal orders were issued on Friday.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had filed a case against Nikam, the Satara district and sessions judge, for allegedly seeking a bribe of Rs 5 lakh to grant bail in a cheating case. In January, Nikam had approached the high court for anticipatory bail, claiming innocence and alleging he was wrongly implicated. The high court denied the pre-arrest bail in March.
According to the complaint, a woman’s father, a civilian defence employee, was in judicial custody over allegations of cheating someone under the pretext of offering a government job. After a lower court denied his bail, the woman filed a fresh application in the Satara sessions court, which Nikam heard.
The ACB alleged that Kishor Sambhaji Kharat from Mumbai and Anand Mohan Kharat from Satara demanded Rs 5 lakh from the woman at Nikam’s behest for a favourable order. Investigations conducted between December 3 and 9, 2024, reportedly confirmed Nikam’s involvement in collusion with the Kharats to solicit the bribe.
Nikam, the Kharats, and an unidentified individual have been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
