Bombay High Court
Anita Parmanand Pal vs The State Of Maharashtra on 24 June, 2019
Author: Revati Mohite Dere
Bench: Revati Mohite Dere
ABA 1266-19.doc
Anand IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION NO. 1266 OF 2019
Anita Parmanand Pal .Applicant
Vs.
The State of Maharashtra .Respondent
Mr. Girish Kulkarni i/b. Mr. M. G. Shukla & Mr. Madhusudan Pareek,
Advocate, for the Applicant
Mr. S. V. Gavand, APP, for the Respondent - State
CORAM : REVATI MOHITE DERE, J.
DATE : 24.06.2019
P.C.
. Heard learned counsel for the parties.
2. By this Application, the Applicant seeks pre-arrest bail in connection with C. R. No. 161 of 2019 registered with the Sahar Police Station, Mumbai, for the alleged offences punishable under Sections 384, 354, 504, 323, 324, 506 r/w 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
3. Perused the papers. According to the Complainant - Neelam Singh, the incident took place on 27.04.2019 at 8.30 p. m., when she was sitting with her grandson outside her house. The 1 of 4 ::: Uploaded on - 01/07/2019 ::: Downloaded on - 14/07/2019 23:34:57 ::: ABA 1266-19.doc Complainant has alleged that the Applicant came with one person on an Activa and demanded an amount of Rs. 5,00,000/- from her, for the constructing of her house. The Applicant is alleged to have also stated that though she had filed a complaint with the BMC, yet she ( Complainant ) was not paying the amount. It is alleged by the Complainant that the Applicant and the other person with her, started abusing and assaulting her; on hearing the same, her neighbour Sitabai Holkar came on the spot and tried to rescue her ( Complainant ) from the Applicant; that when Sitabai intervened, the person who was driving the Activa held Sitabai, pursuant to which the Applicant picked up a bamboo stick lying on the spot and assaulted Sitabai on her right hand, as a result of which Sitabai sustained an injury. Pursuant thereto, the Complainant's son informed the police who reached the spot and thereafter, a complaint was lodged as against the Applicant. It appears from the complaint that the Applicant would threaten the Complainant, by stating that she was an RTI activist and that if the Complainant did not give the amount as demanded, she would complain to the BMC. It appears that after the case was registered as against the Applicant, the Applicant sent a whatsapp message threatening the Complainant. The said message reads, "uhye lhax 5 yk[k ugh vc eqbks 15 yk[k pkfg,s ugh rks ;kn j[kuk fQj mYVh djokrh gw¡". According to the learned 2 of 4 ::: Uploaded on - 01/07/2019 ::: Downloaded on - 14/07/2019 23:34:57 ::: ABA 1266-19.doc APP, the Applicant on her facebook account has threatened the police and used abusive language against the Police Inspector, Sunayana Nate. Learned APP states that the Applicant in one of her facebook posts has shown herself as Cat holding a mouse in her mouth, where she is the Cat and the mouse in her mouth is "dk;nk dkuwu".
4. Perused the papers. From a perusal of the statements of witnesses, it appears that the Applicant was extorting money from various persons, by threatening to file a complaint against them. It also appears that the Applicant used to give false address in her RTI applications. It also appears that the Assistant Commissioner, BMC has black listed the Applicant for misusing the RTI Act, to harass the public, by making illegal demands and by threatening the public. Learned APP has filed a detailed Affidavit of Jayashri Laxman Sangle, PSI attached to the Sahar Police Station, Mumbai setting out the acts of the Applicant as well as language used by the Applicant on her facebook profile. The said whatsapp message sent to the Complainant is on page No. 77 of the Affidavit, wherein the Applicant has demanded Rs. 15,00,000/- instead of Rs. 5,00,000/-. It appears that the Applicant was extorting money from the Complainant by misusing the RTI Act. The Applicant has 12 cases registered as against her from 2005 to 2019.
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5. Considering the aforesaid, this is not a fit case to grant pre- arrest bail to the Applicant. Hence, the Application stands rejected.
6. It is made clear that the observations made herein are prima facie, and if an Application for regular bail is filed, the learned Judge shall consider the same on its own merits, in accordance with law, uninfluenced by the observations made in this order.
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