The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charged a high court judge on Friday with taking a bribe of 1.5 million rupees ($333,333) in a rare move against a member of the higher judiciary.A series of scandals involving government leaders, corporate figures and journalists has erupted in the past year, undermining investor confidence and raising doubt about the rule of law in one of the world's fastest growing economies.
The CBI filed charges against Uttarakhand high court judge Nirmal Yadav for taking a bribe to writing a favourable judgement, a spokeswoman said.
Yadav's case was termed as "cash-at-doorstep" case as the money was wrongly delivered to the home of a different judge with a similar name, local media said.
The lower judiciary has long faced allegations of graft, but action against senior judges has been rare.
Yadav's prosecution required approval from the chief justice of the Supreme Court and the decision reflected the willingness of the top court to confront flaws within, a lawyer said.
"Corruption has always been there in the judiciary. What this shows is that the judiciary under its new head is willing to act to deal with corruption within itself," Prashant Bhushan said.
On Thursday a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia quashed the appointment of the country's anti-graft chief because he was himself facing allegations of graft in a nearly 20-year-old case.
The top court is pursuing other cases including monitoring a federal police investigation of a $39 billion telecoms licensing scam, in what is said to be independent India's biggest scandal.
Regulatory concerns in India, combined with the global economic slowdown, have hit foreign direct investment and contributed to making the Mumbai stock exchange the worst performing of the world's major share markets.
