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2022 Supreme(Bom) 1116
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
C.V. Bhadang, J.
Nitesh Narayan Rane & Anr. - Appellants
Versus
State Of Maharashtra - Respondent
Anticipatory Bail Application No. 2 of 2022
Decided On : 17-01-2022
Mr. Niteen Pradhan, Senior Counsel i/b Shubhada Khot, Mr. A.P. Mundargi, Senior Counsel i/b Lokesh Zade and Vishnu Chavan, for the Appellant; Mr. Sudeep Pasbole, Spl.PP with Bhushan Salvi and Y.Y. Dabke, Mr. Vikas Patil Shirgaonka, PI Sachin Houndalekar, for the Respondent.
The court balanced the conflicting considerations of personal liberty and the need for proper investigation in a larger societal interest, and found that the Applicants in ABA No.2 of 2022 were not entitled to pre-arrest bail, but granted protection to the Applicant Manish Dalvi on conditions.
Headnote:
Anticipatory Bail - Crime No. 387/2021 Police Station Kankavali - Section 307, 120-B r/w Section 34 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) - Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure ('Cr.P.C.' for short) - [Section 307, 120-B r/w Section 34 of IPC, Section 160 of Cr.P.C.] - The court discussed the nature and gravity of the accusation, the antecedents of the applicants, the possibility of the applicant to flee from justice, and the possibility of the accused's likelihood to repeat similar or other offences. The court also considered the impact of grant of anticipatory bail particularly in cases of large magnitude affecting a very large number of people. The court evaluated the entire available material against the accused very carefully and considered the reasonable apprehension of tampering of the witness or threat to the complainant. The court balanced the conflicting considerations of personal liberty and the need for proper investigation in a larger societal interest. The court found that the Applicants in ABA No.2 of 2022 were not entitled to pre-arrest bail, but granted protection to the Applicant Manish Dalvi on conditions.
Fact of the Case:
The case involved an incident of catcall lampooning' during a protest by the opposition outside Assembly, and the elections to the Sindhudurga District Central Cooperative Bank. The complaint alleged that the Applicants were involved in a conspiracy to assault and intimidate the complainant/injured.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the Applicants in ABA No.2 of 2022 were not entitled to pre-arrest bail, but granted protection to the Applicant Manish Dalvi on conditions.
Issues: The court considered the nature and gravity of the accusation, the antecedents of the applicants, the possibility of the applicant to flee from justice, and the possibility of the accused's likelihood to repeat similar or other offences. The court also evaluated the entire available material against the accused very carefully and considered the reasonable apprehension of tampering of the witness or threat to the complainant.
Ratio Decidendi: The court balanced the conflicting considerations of personal liberty and the need for proper investigation in a larger societal interest. The court found that the Applicants in ABA No.2 of 2022 were not entitled to pre-arrest bail, but granted protection to the Applicant Manish Dalvi on conditions.
Final Decision: ABA No. 2/2022 is rejected. ABA No. 51/2022 is allowed. In the event of his arrest in connection with investigation of Crime No. 387/2021 of PS Kankavali the Applicant Manish Prakash Dalvi be released on bail on execution of a PR bond of Rs 50,000/- with one or two solvent sureties in the like amount. The Applicant shall attend PS Kankavali on 20th, 21st and 22nd January 2022 between 11 am to 1 pm and thereafter, as and when called by the Investigating Officer. The Applicant shall surrender his passport, if any, before the Investigating officer and shall not leave Sindhudurga District without prior intimation to the investigating officer until further orders. The Applicant shall co-operate with the investigating agency and shall not make any attempt to directly or indirectly contact or influence the witnesses or to otherwise tamper with the prosecution evidence. The Applicant shall not indulge into any acts which tends to interfere with the proper investigation of the offence. In the event of breach of any conditions, the bail is liable to be cancelled.
ORDER
1. Both these applications, seeking anticipatory bail, arise out of Crime No. 387/2021 Police Station Kankavali, District Sindhudurga under Section 307, 120-B r/w Section 34 of Indian Penal Code (IPC). As such they are being disposed of by this common order.
2. Brief facts necessary for the disposal of the applications may be stated thus:
The Applicant No. 1 Nitesh Rane (ABA No. 2/2021) is a sitting MLA in the State from Kankavali Constituency, being elected in the year 2014 and then in 2019 on the ticket of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in opposition in the State of Maharashtra. The Applicant No. 2 Sandesh @ Gotya Sawant is said to be a close associate of Applicant No.1. The Applicant Manish Dalvi (ABA No. 51/2022) is a elected Director and the Chairman of Sindhudurga District Central Cooperative Bank ('the said Bank' for short).
3. On 23 December 2021, there was an incident of catcall lampooning', during a protest by the opposition outside Assembly during the Assembly Session involving the ApplicantNo.1, which according to the Applicants did not go well with Shiv Sena, the Ruling coalition Party in the State.
4. Secondly, the elections to the said Bank were scheduled to be held on 30 December 2021 in which Applicant Manish Dalvi was a contesting candidate and the Applicant Nitesh Rane was the Campaigner in the said election for Manish Dalvi and against the rival candidates of the ruling coalition parties in the State. Broadly, these are the reasons according to the applicants for their false implication, in the case apart from general political rivalry.
5. The aforesaid offence is registered on the complaint lodged by Santosh Manohar Parab resident of Kankavali, who is a contractor by profession and a member of the ruling Coalition party in the State. According to the informant, on 18 December 2021 at about 11 am, when he was returning home by his motorcycle, he was hit by a car from behind, near Shital Chinese Centre, Kanedi Road at Kankavali, as a result of which, he fell down and the motorcycle falling on his person. He claims that he was dragged to a distance of about 15 ft, because of which, he sustained injuries to his right hand. He noticed that he was hit by a silver colour Innova car, without any registration number. One unidentified person alighted from the car, while the driver was sitting at the wheels. The said person accosted him as to whether he (the informant) is working for Mr. Satish Sawant. Saying so, the said person took out a knife (which is found to be a paper cutter) and assaulted the informant on the right side of the chest, because of which he sustained an injury. The said unidentified assailant is alleged to have said to himself that the incident should be informed to Gotya Sawant and Nitesh Rane. He then made a call to someone and then fled in the car. The informant has given the description of the said unidentified person and clothes worn. The informant was carried to the Sub-District hospital. The police was informed about the incident by an anonymous caller. The Investigating Officer visited the hospital, where the statement of the informant was recorded after obtaining endorsement about fitness, from the medical officer. Accordingly, an offence was registered against unidentified accused.
6. The innova car, matching the description was intercepted near Fonda Check post. The car was bearing No. MH-14-DX-8326, which was seized. During the course of the investigation, the accused Chetan Pawar(A1), Karan Balasaheb Kamble(A2), Anil Nakka(A3)and Karan Dattu Kamble(A4) all residents of Pune came to be arrested on 18 December 2021 at about 21.47 Hrs. The Police Custody Remand of the said Accused was obtained. On 20 December 2021 in the remand application, one more accused Dipak Namdeo Waghode(A5)was shown to be arrested and one Dnyaneshwar @ Mauli Digambar Devnoor(WA3) and Dheeraj Jadhao (WA4)were shown to be wanted in the crime. In the remand application, on 23 December 2021, it was stated that
