India, March 18 -- The Bombay High Court on Monday refused to grant anticipatory bail to Dhananjay Nikam, the district and sessions judge of Satara, who is accused of soliciting a Rs.5 lakh bribe in exchange for granting bail to a person booked in a cheating case.

Justice N R Borkar, presiding over a single-judge bench, heard Nikam's plea in-camera. The State Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has booked Nikam for allegedly seeking the bribe through two intermediaries-Kishor Sambhaji Kharat from Mumbai and Anand Mohan Kharat from Satara.

According to the ACB, the Kharat brothers approached the complainant in the case and demanded the bribe on Nikam's behalf. Investigations revealed that Nikam was actively involved in soliciting a bribe and ha...