Civil judge gets judicial custody in graft case

A senior civil woman judge on Thursday was remanded to 14 days in judicial cu-stody in a graft case by a special CBI court, which sent her lawyer husband and a local commissioner to two days in police custody. Rachna Tiwari Lakh-anpal, senior civil judge at the Tis Hazari court, was produced before special ju-dge Sanjeev Aggarwal who sent her to judicial custody till October 13 after the CBI said her custodial interrogation was not required. The court also fixed her bail application for hearing on October 3.

The court also sent her husband, Alok Lakhanpal, a practising lawyer, and local commissioner Vikas Mehal to two days in CBI custody till October 1. They were arrested by the CBI on Thursday. During the hearing, the CBI told the court that a complaint was received against the judge on September 27 that she had appointed an advocate as local commissioner in a civil case she was adjudicating and had allegedly demanded bribe. The CBI claimed it conducted a raid at the judicial officer’s Gulabi Bagh residence here late Wednesday night and recovered Rs 94 lakh. It alleged that the woman was arrested while allegedly accepting Rs 4 lakh bribe.