NEW DELHI: In a rare arrest, the CBI on Tuesday caught a special metropolitan magistrate in Delhi while allegedly taking Rs 25,000 bribe from a shopkeeper in south Delhi's Alaknanda Market by threatening to seal his shop.

The special metropolitan magistrate R P Bhatia, central zone (littering), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has been booked under various actions of Prevention of Corruption Act.

CBI alleged that the magistrate had challaned the complainant, an owner of a readymade garments shop in Alaknanda Market in south Delhi during an inspection on August 10.

"The magistrate directed the shop owner to appear in his court at Lajpat Nagar. When the complainant reached there, the magistrate allegedly demanded illegal gratification of Rs 60,000 from him for settling the challan, else his shop would be sealed.The magistrate told him that littering was the reason he was being penalized," said a CBI official.

The shop owner had told him that he didn't have that kind of bribe to pay so after negotiations, the bribe money was reduced to Rs 25,000.

The agency laid a trap on Tuesday on the complaint of the shop owner who was to take the money at Lajpat Nagar office. He was caught red handed while demanding and accepting the bribe.

CBI sources said the last major arrest of a judge or a judiciary member in last decade was when the agency had arrested a Delhi high court judge in a corruption case.

