Bombay High Court
Irshad Ikbal Inamdar vs State Of Maharashtra on 20 July, 2022
Author: Bharati Dangre
Bench: Bharati Dangre
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION NO.1836 OF 2022
Irshad Ikbal Inamdar .. Applicant
Versus
The State of Maharashtra .. Respondent
...
Mr.Rajendra Bidkar for the Applicant.
Ms.A.A.Takalkar, A.P.P. for the State/Respondent.
...
CORAM: BHARATI DANGRE, J.
DATED : 20th JULY, 2022
P.C:-
1. The applicant is facing charge in C.R.No.86 of 2021 for
the offences punishable under Sections 8(c), 20(B), 20© of the
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for
short, "the N.D.P.S. Act"). On completion of investigation, the
charge-sheet has been fled in the Special Court on
07/06/2022, which arraigns the applicant as accused No.3, but
he is shown as absconding accuse. The other two accused
persons, being accused No.1-Kamal Hasan Raza Ansari @
M.M.Salgaonkar
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Guddu and accused No.2-Shehnazbi Sattar Pathan, came to be
arrested and are in judicial custody.
2. On 17/12/2021, secret information was received that a
person named, Kamal Hasan Raza Ansari has stored ganja in a
room in Fatima Nagar. On tipped of, a raid was conducted on
the given address and three gunny bags, consisting of various
packets of ganja, weighing 74.624 kg. came to be seized by
drawing panchanama. C.R.No.866 of 2021 came to be
registered with Shantinagar Police Station, pursuant to the
said raid. Charge-sheet came to be fled against the arrested
accused persons.
3. During the interrogation with accused No.1, the name of
accused No.2 surfaced on record and she was arrested on
25/12/2021. Accused No.1 and the present applicant are her
son-in-laws.
During interrogation, she gave a statement to the effect
that she procured the said contraband from Visakhapatnam
and transported it in a rickshaw with the help of the present
applicant from Kalyan and it is on the basis of this statement,
the present applicant is arraigned as an accused.
Apprehending his arrest, he seeks protection by fling the
present application.
M.M.Salgaonkar
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4. When the charge-sheet placed on record against the co-
accused is carefully perused, it alleges that the contraband
was found in possession of accused No.1. When the statement
of the co-accused dated 29/12/2021 placed on record by the
learned A.P.P. is perused, the case of the prosecution is that
the co-accused has implicated the applicant, as being involved
in transporting the contraband. Pertinent to note that the said
statement is not recorded under Section 67, but is a statement
recorded under Section 161 by the Crime Branch Unit. Though
the learned counsel for the applicant would vehemently raise
an objection about the admissibility of the said statement,
which is not compiled in the charge-sheet fled against the
accused persons, keeping aside the said argument, I have
perused the said statement.
Accused No.2 has stated that for last eight years, she was
engaged in selling of ganja and she speaks about the
circumstances, how she got involved into the said business.
Accused No.2 has stated that her husband was into trading of
rice, but, subsequently he got himself engaged in trade of ganja
and whenever he used to go to distinct places, apprehending
that he would fnd himself in an intoxicated state as he was
addicted to liquor, his wife Shehnazbi used to accompany him.
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After his death, she continued with the said trade and used to
visit Visakhapatnam for taking delivery of ganja. She narrates
the manner in which she used to bring the contraband to
Mumbai and disburse the money to her daughters.
As per accused No.2, before two months, accused No.1
informed her about a customer, who was interested in ganja
and on meeting him, she delivered ganja. She state that on
various occasions, she delivered ganja to him on receipt of the
consideration. On further demand from accused No.1, she
went to Visakhapatnam to procure the same and a person by
name Shenu, the seller and one person accompanied her to
Visakhapatnam from where she travelled to Kachnara Station
and further to Kalyan. On reaching Kalyan, her son-in-law,
Irshad (present applicant) accompanied her in Rickshaw to
Bhiwandi to deliver the contraband to accused No.1. She
delivered ganja to accused No.1 and stayed with her son-in-law
till she received the money. Thereafter, she made the payment
to Shenu by visiting him in Visakhapatnam. This event was
repeated whenever her son-in-law used to make the payment.
She was, however, not aware about any further transaction at
the instance of accused No.1.
M.M.Salgaonkar
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5. The said statement is perused. As far as the present
applicant is concerned, a limited role has been assigned to
him,being accompanying accused No.2 from Kalyan to
Bhiwandi in a rickshaw. The charge-sheet does not attribute
any conscious possession/assistance being rendered to the co-
accused by the present applicant. He is not found to be in
possession of any contraband and the entire contraband has
been already seized from accused No.1. The charge-sheet does
not contain any material indicating the involvement of the
applicant, barring the statement of accused No.2. and his
involvement is only to the extent that he has accompanied
accused No.2 in a rickshaw, when she deboarded the train at
Kalyan and proceeded to Bhiwandi. It is not the case of the
prosecution that he has received any money towards the said
contraband.
Since the charge-sheet has already been fled against the
two accused persons and the material is already compiled
therein, the custodial interrogation of the applicant is not
warranted. He is, therefore, entitled for protection in
anticipation of his arrest, subject to the following conditions.
: ORDER :
(a) Application is allowed.
M.M.Salgaonkar
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(b) In the event of arrest in connection with
C.R.No.866 of 2021 registered with Shantinagar Police Station, applicant-Irshad Ikbal Inamdar shall be released on bail on furnishing P.R. Bond to the extent of Rs.25,000/- with one or two sureties of the like amount.
(c) The applicant shall report to the concerned police station on Monday and Tuesday between 11.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. for a period of two weeks and, thereafter, as and when called for.
(d) The applicant shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with facts of case so as to dissuade him from disclosing the facts to Court or any Police Offcer and should not tamper with evidence.
( SMT. BHARATI DANGRE, J.) M.M.Salgaonkar ::: Uploaded on - 21/07/2022 ::: Downloaded on - 22/07/2022 12:49:03 :::