Bombay HC Acquits Pune Court Clerk In 29-Year-Old ₹500 Bribery Case, Cites Lack Of Proof Of Demand
Mumbai, July 25, 2026: Nearly 29 years after a court clerk was caught in an Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) trap for allegedly accepting a Rs 500 bribe, the Bombay High Court has acquitted him, holding that the prosecution failed to prove the essential ingredient of demand for illegal gratification. Jamadar set aside the 2003 conviction of Shailendra Bakare, who was working as a bench clerk in a Pune magistrate's court in 1997. While the complainant claimed the alleged demand was made around 2.30 pm before he immediately approached the ACB, the investigating officer admitted in cross-examination that the complainant had reached the ACB office between 10 am and 10.30 am on the same day.
- ▪Mumbai, July 25, 2026: Nearly 29 years after a court clerk was caught in an Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) trap for allegedly accepting a Rs 500 bribe, the Bombay High Court has acquitted him, holding that the prosecution failed to prove the
- ▪Jamadar set aside the 2003 conviction of Shailendra Bakare, who was working as a bench clerk in a Pune magistrate's court in 1997.
- ▪While the complainant claimed the alleged demand was made around 2.30 pm before he immediately approached the ACB, the investigating officer admitted in cross-examination that the complainant had reached the ACB office between 10 am and 10.
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Mumbai, July 25, 2026: Nearly 29 years after a court clerk was caught in an Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) trap for allegedly accepting a Rs 500 bribe, the Bombay High Court has acquitted him, holding that the prosecution failed to prove the essential ingredient of demand for illegal gratification. Conviction Set AsideJustice N.J. Jamadar set aside the 2003 conviction of Shailendra Bakare, who was working as a bench clerk in a Pune magistrate's court in 1997. The court observed that the prosecution case was riddled with contradictions and improbabilities, making it unsafe to uphold the conviction.In September 1997, a doctor had filed a private criminal complaint for defamation, alleging that Bakare demanded Rs 500 to issue a bailable warrant against the accused in that case.
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