Bombay High Court
Sonali Deepak Gavare vs The State Of Maharashtra on 31 October, 2023
Author: M. S. Karnik
Bench: M. S. Karnik
2023:BHC-AS:32872
Darshan Patil 3-ba-578-225-570-23.doc
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
BAIL APPLICATION NO. 578 OF 2023
DEEPA VIRENDRA PAWAR ..APPLICANT
VS.
THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA ..RESPONDENT
WITH
BAIL APPLICATION NO. 225 OF 2023
SONALI DEEPAK GAVARE ..APPLICANT
VS.
THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA ..RESPONDENT
WITH
BAIL APPLICATION NO. 570 OF 2023
NANDA NANASAHEB GAIKWAD ..APPLICANT
VS.
THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA ..RESPONDENT
WITH
INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 3571 OF 2023
IN
BAIL APPLICATION NO. 578 OF 2023
WITH
INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 3175 OF 2023
IN
BAIL APPLICATION NO. 225 OF 2023
WITH
INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 3216 OF 2023
IN
BAIL APPLICATION NO. 570 OF 2023
USHA POPAT KATE ..APPLICANT
VS.
THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA ..RESPONDENT
------------
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Sr. Advocate Rajiv Patil a/w Adv. Kishan Chaudhari for the
Applicant in BA/578/2023.
Adv. Chaitanya Pendse i/b Adv. Anuradha Joshi for the
Applicant in BA/225/2023.
Adv. H.S. Venegaonkar a/w Adv. Rajabhau Chaudhari i/b
Adv. Vishal Kolekar for the Applicant in BA/570/2023.
Sr. Advocate Raja Thakare, Spl. Counsel a/w Adv. Siddharth
Jagushte for the State.
Sr. Advocate Shirish Gupte a/w Adv. Vrishali Raje a/w Adv.
Shagufa Patel i/b Adv. Harshad Bhadbhade a/w Adv.
Kuldeep S. Patil a/w Adv. Hrishikesh P. Dhumal a/w Adv.
Shailesh D. Chavan for the Intervener.
------------
CORAM : M. S. KARNIK, J.
DATE : OCTOBER 31, 2023
P.C. :
1. Heard learned senior advocate Shri Patil, learned
counsel Shri Venegaonkar and learned counsel Shri Pendse
for the applicants, learned senior advocate Shri Thakare,
Special Counsel for the State and learned senior advocate
Shri Gupte for the intervener.
2. These are the applications for bail in respect of the
offence punishable under Sections 307, 386, 341, 201, 204,
206, 120-B, 506, 141, 143, 147, 148, 149 of the Indian
Penal Code (hereafter 'IPC' for short), Section 39 of the
Maharashtra Money Lending (Regulation) Act, 2014,
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Sections 37(1) read with 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act,
Section 3(25) of the Arms Act and Sections 3(1)(ii), 3(2),
2(3), 3(4), 3(5) and 4 of the Maharashtra Control of
Organised Crime Act, 1999 (hereafter 'MCOCA', for short)
registered on 22/07/2021 vide C.R. No.325 of 2021 with
Chatushrungi Police Station, Pune.
3. There are in all 9 accused. The applicant Deepa
Virendra Pawar is accused No.9. The applicant Nanda
Nanasheb Gaikwad is accused No.2 and the applicant Sonali
Deepak Gavare is accused No.4. The main accused is
accused No.1- Nanasaheb Gaikwad. The applicant Nanda is
the wife of accused No.1. She is 70 years of age. The
applicants Deepa and Sonali are the daughters of accused
Nos.1 and 2. The complainant is Usha Popat Kate. I have
gone through the contents of FIR and the relevant materials
to which my attention is invited. The statement of the
complainant was recorded on 22/07/2021.
4. The case of the prosecution in brief is that accused
No.1 is a money lender. Accused No.1 lends money at a
heavy rate of interest. If there is any default in payment of
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money then the accused No.1 with the use of threat,
physical violence, force and at gunpoint recovers money
from the victims. Not only that, it is also the case of the
prosecution that the victims are forced to sign documents in
respect of their immovable property favouring the accused
and even in some cases luxury cars are forced to be
transferred by the victims in favour of the accused No.1 and
his family members.
5. So far as the accusations in the present FIR are
concerned, it is alleged that the complainant's son had
borrowed money from accused No.1. There was a default in
the payment. Accused No.1, therefore, threatened the son
of the complainant. On the previous occasion as well, the
complainant and her son had registered a complaint at the
police station in respect of threats which were issued by
accused No.1 and his family members.
6. On the date of the incident, at the instance of accused
No.1, his daughter accused No.4 - Sonali alongwith some
accused went to the house of the complainant and called
upon them to vacate the property. They threatened the son
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of the complainant with dire consequences. When the
complainant and her son went to the house of accused
No.1, the accused No.1, his son, son-in-law and other
accused threatened them. The complainant and her son
were forced to sign the blank documents. When the
complainant resisted, accused No.1 took out a revolver and
fired bullets in the air. Accused No.1 made the complainant
sign an agreement at gunpoint. Thereafter, the complainant
and her son were assaulted and in a car taken to the
bungalow of accused No.4. After threats of dire
consequences should they lodge any complaint with the
police, the complainant and her son were let off by the
accused.
7. Learned senior advocate Shri Thakare, special counsel
for the State, submitted that the accusations are serious in
nature. My attention is invited to the statements of the
witnesses which reveal the manner and the modus operandi
adopted by the accused No.1 and his family members while
conducting the money-lending business. The recovery of
money was made by threats, force and at gunpoint.
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Learned senior advocate relied upon the statement of
Swapnil Ganpatrao Balwadkar who was made to sign
documents forcefully in a similar manner after threatening
him. Reliance was then placed on another statement of one
Ramesh Shivaji Yewale who stated that when he failed to
pay accused No.1 the amount which was lent, the victim
was forcefully made to transfer his Mercedes Benz car in the
name of the accused No.1's daughter - Deepa (accused
No.9 herein). Learned senior advocate also relied upon the
statement of the son-in-law of accused No.1 who is the
husband of Deepa to indicate that even the son-in-law was
not spared by accused No.1. It is further submitted that the
applicants are continuing their activities even while in
custody.
8. Shri Gupte, learned senior advocate appearing for the
complainant, was at pains to point out the reign of terror
created by the accused. It is submitted that properties
worth crores of rupees belonging to victims is forcefully
taken charge of by the accused and in that process the
present applicants are actively assisting accused No.1. My
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attention is invited to the role of the accused - Nanda so far
as the present C.R. is concerned. Learned senior advocate
submitted that she was not only present at the time when
the offence was committed but she actively participated in
the commission of the present crime. The learned senior
advocate referred to Section 120-B of the IPC in support of
his submission that the accused conspired with each other
and submitted that the role of the present applicants cannot
be any lesser than that of the accused No.1 in the facts and
circumstances of the present case.
9. Shri Gupte, learned senior advocate then relied upon
the definition of Section 2(e) of the MCOCA to submit that
the activities of the accused fall within the meaning of the
'organised crime' as the unlawful means adopted by the
accused was with the objective of gaining pecuniary
benefits, or gaining undue economic or other advantage not
only for the accused No.1 but for the other accused as well.
Learned senior advocate submitted that the activities of the
accused No.1 who is the gang leader qualify as organised
crime syndicate. It is further submitted that the
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complainant had the courage to stand up to the atrocities of
accused No.1 and after the present complaint was
registered there are several other victims who have
gathered the courage to come forward for registering
similar offences against accused No.1 and present
applicants which are increasing with every passing day. The
learned senior advocate submitted that having regard to
sub-section 4 of Section 21 of the MCOCA, the twin
conditions stipulated therein need to be satisfied. It is
submitted that this Court must be satisfied that there are
reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not
guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit
any offence while on bail. Furthermore, it is submitted that
having regard to the criminal history of the applicants, the
applicants are likely to commit further offence while on bail.
10. Learned senior advocate Shri Thakare as well as
learned senior advocate Shri Gupte were thus at pains to
point out that present is a case where the applicants do not
deserve any sympathy even though they are women,
having regard to the nature of the accusations against
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them. It is prayed that the applications be dismissed.
11. I have gone through the accusations. So far as the
present offence is concerned the major accusations are
against accused No.1. Having gone through the various
statements on record, it is apparent that the accusations
are mainly against accused No.1. No doubt, there are
accusations against the present applicants as well. The
applicant - Nanda is the wife of accused No.1. So far as the
present C.R. is concerned, the accusations would show that
she was present when the complainant was threatened by
accused No.1. Furthermore, there is a role assigned to the
applicants - Nanda and Sonali that these applicants caught
hold of the neck of the complainant and assaulted her with
fists and blows. During the course of the investigation, the
revolver belonging to accused No.1 was recovered from the
locker of the applicant- Nanda. So far as Deepa is
concerned, the role assigned to her is that she tried to hide
the documents relating to the sale transaction in respect of
the property belonging to the complainant after it was
revealed that the C.R. was registered by the complainant.
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The applicant Deepa was not actually present at the time of
the incident. There are accusations on record that in
respect of some other offence, property and a luxury car
belonging to the one of the victims was transferred in the
name of the applicant Deepa at the instance of the accused
No.1.
12. I have gone through the affidavit-in-reply filed on
behalf of respondent- State by Ashwini Ganesh Rakh,
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Pune City. There are as
many as 12 offences registered against accused No.1. So
far as the applicants are concerned, prior to the lodging of
the present C.R. there is one offence vide C.R. No. 293 of
2021 registered with Chatushrungi police station against
them under Sections 498(A), 392, 354, 326(A), 323, 325,
406, 420, 120(B), 506 and 34 of the IPC read with Section
3 of the Dowry Prohibition Act read with Section 3 of the
Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication extent and
commencement of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil
and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013. So far as
the applicant- Deepa is concerned, there is one more
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offence vide C.R. No. 375 of 2021 registered against her
with the Chatushtrungi police station under Sections 307,
386 of the IPC, under Section 39 of the Maharashtra Money
Lending Act and under Section 3(25) of the Arms Act.
13. Though the incident is of December 2020, the C.R.
was registered on 22/07/2021. The explanation is that the
accused No.1 wields tremendous political clout. The
applicants are women. The applicants Deepa, Nanda and
Sonali were arrested on 30/08/2021, 19/08/2021 and
23/07/2021 respectively and effectively in custody for more
than 2 years. The applicant- Nanda is 70 years of age. Shri
Thakare, learned senior advocate, made an attempt to
submit that the trial is ripe for hearing and therefore, it is a
fit case for expediting the trial instead of enlarging the
applicants on bail. I am informed that the charge is not yet
framed. There are as many as 81 witnesses to be
examined. Shri Thakare submitted that not all the witnesses
will be examined. The prosecution is likely to examine 40
witnesses.
14. The trial is likely to take a long time to conclude. No
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doubt, there are accusations against the present applicants.
However, having regard to the role of the applicants in the
present offence and the nature of the antecedents from the
materials on record, it is apparent that the major
allegations are against the accused No.1 and other accused.
In my opinion, therefore, though the provisions of MCOCA
are invoked, having regard to the facts of the case, the role
of the applicants, that the applicants are incarcerated for
more than 2 years as undertrials, the rigours of sub-section
4 of Section 21 of the MCOCA can be overcome and I record
my satisfaction accordingly. In the facts and circumstances
of the present case, I am inclined to enlarge the applicants
on bail by imposing stringent conditions. The investigation
is complete and the charge-sheet has been filed. Shri Patil,
learned senior advocate, Shri Venergaonkar and Shri
Pendse, on instructions, submitted that the applicants are
ready to reside outside the State of Maharashtra if granted
bail and it is further submitted by them that during the
pendency of trial the applicant - Deepa will be staying in the
state of Andhra Pradesh, the applicant- Nanda will be
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staying in the state of Karnataka and the applicant - Sonali
will be residing in the state of Telangana. The statement is
accepted. Having regard to the accusations against the
applicants and the materials on record, I am satisfied that
though the conditions may appear harsh, but this is fit case
where the applicants should reside outside the state of
Maharashtra and individually in different states. Hence, the
following order :-
ORDER
(a) The applications are allowed.
(b) The applicants- Deepa Virendra Pawar, Nanda Nanasaheb Gaikwad and Sonali Deepak Gavare in connection with C.R. No.325 of 2021 registered with Chatushrungi Police Station shall be released on bail on their furnishing P.R. Bond of Rs.1,00,000/- each with one or more solvent sureties each in the like amount.
(c) Except for attending the trial, the applicants shall not enter in the state of Maharashtra after being released on bail, till the trial concludes.
(d) On being released on bail, the applicants shall furnish their contact numbers and residential addresses while residing outside the State of Maharashtra to the Investigating Officer and to the trial Court and shall keep 13/15 Darshan Patil 3-ba-578-225-570-23.doc them updated, in case there is any change.
(e) The applicants shall furnish the details of the nearest police station to the place of their residence while residing outside the State of Maharashtra to the trial Court and to the Investigating Officer. The applicants shall report to such police station twice a month, every first and third Monday of the month, between 11.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m.
(f) The applicants shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing the facts to Court or any Police Officer. The applicants shall not tamper with evidence.
(g) The applicants shall not contact or intimidate or threaten the complainant or any witnesses.
(h) The applicants shall attend the trial regularly. The applicants shall co-operate with the trial Court and shall not seek unnecessary adjournments.
(i) The applicants shall abide by the statement made to this Court.
(j) If any of the conditions are breached, the same shall be viewed seriously and will invite the consequence of cancellation of this bail.
15. The bail applications are disposed of. All the interim applications are disposed of.
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16. Shri Gupte, learned senior advocate, requested this Court to stay this order for a period of 4 weeks. The request is rejected.
(M. S. KARNIK, J.) 15/15 Signed by: Darshan Patil Designation: PA To Honourable Judge Date: 31/10/2023 22:13:10