MUMBAI, Sept. 10 -- The Bombay High Court recently came down heavily on a petitioner who accused two sitting judges, a former chief justice and a former advocate-general of Maharashtra of taking bribes. The court said the charges are "reckless" and an attempt to browbeat the judiciary. The case arose from a dispute between two families over a plot of land pending before the court since 2016 under the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands and Tenancy (MATL) Act. In due course, several interim orders were passed in favour of the petitioners, prompting the respondents to approach the Supreme Court in 2024. After the case was dismissed by the apex court, the matter was listed for hearing several times in the Bombay High Court. However, the petitioner sought adjournments on various grounds. Subsequently, on July 21, 2025, when the case was listed for final hearing, petitioner, Kalpesh Rajendra Jain and his father, urged the court not to adjourn the matter again and informed the court that they had filed a complaint before the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court and Chief Justice of India, seeking the criminal prosecution of Justices Milind Jadhav and Sandeep Marne, who had passed orders in the matter, on grounds of bribery and other corrupt practices. On August 8, counsel representing Jain apologised to the court for the serious insinuations and unsubstantiated allegations of bribery and corruption made against sitting judges of the court. The court found no violation of the principles of natural justice. "There is no fraud practiced on either the previous bench or this bench by Respondents. Litigants cannot hold the judiciary to ransom by threatening Judges to initiate criminal action. Litigants who try to browbeat or threaten Judges have to be dealt with firmly," the court said....