Court rejects bail plea of Arthur Road jail SP in bribery case

A sessions court today rejected the bail application of Mumbai Central Prison Superintendent of Police, Vasudev Burkule, arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 35,000 from a jail officer to clear him in exam.
Burkule, the chief of the prison widely known as Arthur Road Jail, will be lodged in the same jail.
He had sought bail on the ground of parity saying his deputy Pradeep Pathrikar and co-accused in the case was already granted bail and hence he should also be given the relief.
However, public prosecutor Jaisingh Desai argued in the court that the cases of Burkule and that of Pathikar were different as the former is the main accused in the case.

Desai told the court that Burkule might tamper with evidence and intimidate the witnesses once let out on bail.
Accepting Desai's argument, the court rejected Burkule's bail.

A trap was laid on April 16, after which Burkule and Pathrikar were arrested from central prison police officials' residential colony in south Mumbai.
Pathrikar was caught while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 35,000 of the total Rs 40,000 demanded amount whereas Burkule was apprehended as his deputy was taking the bribe on his behalf.
According to the Anti-Corruption Bureau, a jail officer had appeared for the Maharashtra Prison Manual exam on March 25. The paper had come to Burkule for checking.

As per the case details, Pathrikar had approached the victim saying his paper had come to Burkule for assessment but since the complainant was scoring less marks and may not clear the exam, marks can be increased if he paid Rs 40,000 to them, police said.
The complainant had later approached ACB as he was not willing to bribe the officials.