CHANDIGARH: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a Chandigarh-based advocate and his associate on charges of bribery, following accusations that they demanded Rs 30 lakh to influence a divorce case pending before a court in Bathinda.
The action came after Firozepur-based Harsimranjit Singh lodged a complaint alleging advocate Jatin Salwan had promised him that he would “procure a favourable court order” for his cousin by misusing his relationship with a judicial officer. Salwan purportedly demanded Rs 30 lakh initially but then agreed to take Rs 5 lakh as the first instalment.
CBI officials confirmed that Salwan’s assistant, Satnam Singh, was caught red-handed in Sector 9, Chandigarh, while allegedly receiving Rs 4 lakh as part payment. The two men were produced before a CBI court in Chandigarh, which sent them to judicial custody.
According to CBI, the taped conversations between the complainant and Salwan unequivocally established the illegal gratification demand. The CBI, on ascertaining the complaint, charged the duo under Section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and Section 7A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
This is not the first time that Salwan has been seriously charged. In 2016, Chandigarh Police arrested him in a case of conspiracy against businessman Sukhbir Singh Shergill. In that case, police had recovered 2.6 kg of opium and Rs 15 lakh in fake currency from Shergill’s driver. Investigations later indicated that the plot was to falsely implicate Shergill, in which Salwan was reportedly involved. He was arrested under the NDPS Act but obtained bail. The trial in that case is pending before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.