30 May,2026 02:39 PM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondent
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The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested a revenue official for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from a man to carry out changes in land records in Maharashtra's Thane district, an official said on Saturday, reported PTI.
The ACB's Thane unit on Friday caught the accused, Ishwar Badrinath Jadhav (56), a revenue officer for the villages of Dwarli, Adivali, and Dhokli in Ambernath, red-handed while accepting the bribe, the official said, reported PTI.
Deputy Superintendent of Police, ACB-Thane, Anil Jaykar said the complainant had approached the revenue department seeking correction of succession-related entries in land records following the death of his father, reported PTI.
The complainant wanted earlier succession mutations cancelled and fresh entries made to include his step-sister as one of the legal heirs in the land records, he said.
According to the ACB, Jadhav allegedly demanded Rs 20,000 to process the work, including Rs 10,000 purportedly for himself and Rs 10,000 for the circle officer, reported PTI.
Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant approached the ACB's Thane unit and lodged a complaint.
The accused official has been arrested under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the official said.
In anoter case, a special CBI Court in Maharashtra's Thane district acquitted an Income-Tax officer accused of demanding a bribe of Rs 2.75 lakh from a businessman, ruling that the mere recovery of money cannot constitute an offence without proof of an illegal demand, reported PTI.
Special Judge D S Deshmukh on Friday acquitted Income-Tax officer Anil Ratnakar Mallel (44) of charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, in a 2006 case, reported PTI.
The case against co-accused Additional Commissioner Pankaj Garg was abated following his death in 2024.
According to the prosecution, the CBI's anti-corruption branch laid a trap on December 13, 2006, following a complaint by Jaisukhlal Waghani of J.P. Electronics, who alleged officials demanded money to clear a scrutiny file.
The court noted that when the prosecution failed to establish the initial demand, the entire evidence obtained by laying a trap becomes suspect.
While audio transcripts revealed that the complainant proactively offered money rather than Mallel extorting it, witnesses also gave contradictory statements.
"The evidence of recovery of tainted amount from Mallel when evidence of the previous demand is lacking, or is not satisfactory, would be totally insufficient to hold the accused guilty for having committed an offence. In this case also evidence of illegal demand is lacking," the judge ruled, reported PTI.
Mallel worked in an open hall where the complainant sat next to his desk drawer, the court pointed out, noting the cash could have been planted while his back was turned.
It also cited an invalid prosecution sanction, a 17-day delay in registering the first information report (FIR), and sample tampering doubts, while acquitting the accused of all charges.
(With inputs from PTI)
