Bombay High Court
Sandeep S/O. Marotrao Shriramwar vs The Police Station Officer, Police ... on 4 October, 2018
Author: V. K. Jadhav
Bench: V. K. Jadhav
904-ABA-901-18+
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
BENCH AT AURANGABAD
904 ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION NO. 901 OF 2018
WITH APPLN/2500/2018 IN ABA/901/2018
1. GAJANAN S/O SHRIKANT SAWARGAONKAR
2. SHRIHARI S/O GANGADHAR CHOUDEKAR
VERSUS
THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ANOTHER
......
Advocate for Applicants : Mr. Deshmukh Rajendra S.
APP for Respondents-State : Mr. V. M. Kagne
Advocate to assist APP : Mr. Santosh C. Bhosale
.....
WITH
ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION NO. 817 OF 2018
WITH APPLN/2274/2018 IN ABA/817/2018
SANDEEP S/O MAROTRAO SHRIRAMWAR
VERSUS
THE POLICE STATIO OFFICER, POLICE STATION, BHOKAR
......
Advocate for Applicant : Mr. V. B. Jogdand h/f Mr. H. S. Surve
APP for Respondents-State : Mr. V. M. Kagne
Advocate to assist APP : Mr. Santosh C. Bhosale
.....
CORAM : V. K. JADHAV, J.
DATED : 04th OCTOBER, 2018 PER COURT:-
1. Heard learned counsel for the applicant in criminal application nos. 2500 of 2018 and 2274 of 2018. For the reasons ::: Uploaded on - 06/10/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 07/10/2018 01:28:35 ::: 904-ABA-901-18+ -2- stated in the above applications, the same are allowed in terms of prayer clause "B" and disposed of accordingly.
2. The applicants in both the anticipatory bail applications are seeking anticipatory bail in connection with crime no. 0165 of 2018 registered with Bhokar Police Station, Nanded for the offences punishable under Sections 120(B), 166(A), 167, 168, 406, 409, 420, 413, 426, 465, 467, 468, 471, 474, 477(A) of IPC. Their applications with similar prayers, bearing Misc. Cri. Bail Application Nos.84 of 2018 and 81 of 2018 respectively, came to be rejected by the Additional Sessions Judge, Bhokar vide order dated 20.07.2018.
3. Brief facts giving rise to the present applications are as follows:
Sow. Aruna Vinayakrao Deshmukh, Councilor of Bhokar Municipal Council, has filed an application bearing Misc. Criminal Application No.67 of 2018 seeking direction for investigation under Section 156(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 to the concerned police station. Learned Magistrate, Bhokar, after hearing the arguments advanced by the counsel for the complainant, has ::: Uploaded on - 06/10/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 07/10/2018 01:28:35 ::: 904-ABA-901-18+ -3- directed the police station, Bhokar under Section 156(3) of Cr.P.C. to register offence against the accused and investigate the matter and submit a report in accordance with law. Thus, the police station, Bhokar has registered crime no.165 of 2018 for the offences as referred above. It has been alleged in the complaint that accused nos. 1 and 2, who were working as Chief Officer at Bhokar Municipal Council at the relevant time, had started recruitment process for filling up Class-III posts of "Fireman" and "Peon" in the establishment of the Municipal Council, Bhokar. The advertisement came to be published in the newspaper Daily Vrrutt Times on 15.01.2015 regarding recruitment of the said posts. Accused nos. 8 to 11 are the candidates who applied and came to be selected after undergoing selection process as Fireman and accused nos. 12 to 15 came to be selected for the post of Peon. The complainant has alleged various illegalities while filling up the said posts and the prominent amongst them are that the advertisement was published having no circulation and the prior permission of the office of District Collector was not obtained, most of the candidates who are selected are relatives of the employees working in the Municipal Council, Bhokar, the applications submitted by the candidates are incompletely filled up and/or not scrutinized properly, the column ::: Uploaded on - 06/10/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 07/10/2018 01:28:35 ::: 904-ABA-901-18+ -4- of 'physical fitness' was kept blank in the scrutiny form and the marks obtained by the candidates in oral interview are not shown, the certificates of training required for the post of Fireman submitted by the candidates alongwith the applications are suspicious. Driving license of heavy vehicle was necessary for the post of Fireman, but none of the candidates was possessing the same etc.
4. Learned counsel for the applicants in anticipatory bail application no. 901 of 2018 submits that applicant no.1 is Electrical Engineer in Class-III cadre and he had worked at Bhokar Municipal Council from 01.03.2013 to 31.03.2017 and presently he is working at Degloor Municipal Council, District Nanded. Applicant no.2 is B.E.(Mechanical) from Pune University and he has joined service as Engineer in Class-III cadre. He had also worked in Municipal Council, Bhokar from 01.03.2013 to 13.06.2017 and presently he is working at Loha Municipal Council, District Nanded in Water Supply Section. Learned counsel submits that pursuant to the advertisement for filling up four posts each in the cadre of Fireman and Peon (total eight posts) in Municipal Council, Bhokar, as many as 35 applications came to be filed. There were 20 ::: Uploaded on - 06/10/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 07/10/2018 01:28:35 ::: 904-ABA-901-18+ -5- applications filed for the post of Fireman, whereas, 15 for the post of Peon. Learned counsel submits that there is an inordinate delay of three years in lodging the complaint. The said recruitment process was completed way back in the year 2015 for which the complaint came to be lodged in the year 2018. Learned counsel submits that the applicants had absolutely no role to play in the recruitment and selection process. The very process of recruitment was undertaken by the office of Chief Officer of Municipal Council, Bhokar, who is entirely responsible for the alleged irregularities/illegalities. The then Chief Officer had directed the present applicants to carry out scrutiny of the applications and accordingly, the applicants have carried out the same and filled up scrutiny sheets as per directions given by the then Chief Officer.
The applicants were required to follow the directions of the Chief Officer of Municipal Council. Learned counsel submits that the applicants are Engineers who are unnecessarily dragged into the politics. There are no allegations against these two applicants that they have participated in the recruitment process for selection of candidates. In the given set of allegations, their custodial interrogation is not required. The applicants may be granted anticipatory bail.
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5. Learned counsel for the applicants in anticipatory bail application no.817 of 2018 submits that the investigation does not warrant custodial interrogation of the applicant. The applicant has not committed any offence by seeking appointment in the Municipal Councill, Bhokar. The applicant is a victim of political vendetta of the persons in power. The applicant had appeared in the selection process and got selected. The applicant was appointed as Fireman by appointment order dated 18.02.2015 and since then, he is working at Municipal Council, Bhokar as Fireman. In the given set of allegations, custodial interrogation of the applicant is not required. The applicant is ready to abide the conditions if imposed by this Court. He may be released on bail.
6. Learned APP has strongly resisted these two applications on the ground that the entire recruitment process was a farce. The Bhokar Gram Panchayat was converted into Bhokar Municipal Council by Government Resolution dated 05.08.2009 and in view of the same, there was a requirement to fill up various posts under the Municipal Council administration. Hence, the Director of Municipal Administration had issued order dated 11.02.2010 specifying and mentioning the procedure for recruitment of various staff members under the Municipal administration. The Director of ::: Uploaded on - 06/10/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 07/10/2018 01:28:35 ::: 904-ABA-901-18+ -7- Municipal Administration in the aforesaid letter has specifically mentioned about various reservations, criteria for recruitment, age qualification, mode of appointment, purpose of appointment etc. The said order had effect of five years that is till 10.02.2015. Learned APP submits that the Municipal Council, Bhokar published an advertisement for recruitment of Class-IV employees through direct selection process on 15.01.2015. The said advertisement was published without following due procedure and without following the requirements as directed in the order dated 11.02.2010, such as, (a) advertisement was given in a newspaper which is not having wide circulation, having limited published copies, (b) criteria for reservation was not scrupulously followed, (c) as per order dated 11.02.2010 issued by the Director of Municipal Administration, there is criteria for recruitment to the post of Fireman, i.e. heavy vehicle license, however, the same was not followed, (d) despite specific directions in the said order dated 11.02.2010, previous sanction of District Collector was not obtained.
7. Learned APP submits that the applicants in anticipatory bail application no. 901 of 2018 have kept blank the columns of scrutiny sheet and in consequence thereof, the requirement of 'physical fitness' in respect of the post of Fireman has not been ::: Uploaded on - 06/10/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 07/10/2018 01:28:35 ::: 904-ABA-901-18+ -8- fulfilled by any of the candidates. These applicants have shown the age of one of the candidates as 36 years even though the candidate himself has shown his age as 37 years and some odd months in his application itself. That has been done in order to bring him within the age limit. Learned APP submits that there are various such instances in the entire process. Furthermore, the certificate of training and passing certificate of Fireman are also suspicious. Most of the candidates are relatives of the employees working in the Municipal Council, Bhokar. The applicant in anticipatory bail application no. 817 of 2018 has applied for the post of Fireman and during investigation it has been transpired that there was no attestation of the gazetted officer as per clause (8) of the advertisement and further, the applicant is a close relative of one of the existing employee of the Municipal Council, Bhokar. Learned APP submits that there is a strong prima facie case against the applicants and they are not entitled to be released on anticipatory bail.
8. On careful perusal of the investigation papers and after going through the allegations made in the complaint, I have come across the following irregularities and illegalities: ::: Uploaded on - 06/10/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 07/10/2018 01:28:35 :::
904-ABA-901-18+ -9- Even though the so called advertisement was published to fill up four posts of Fireman and four posts of Peon, surprisingly, only 35 candidates have filed their application in response to the said advertisement. In the year 2015 and even earlier to that, the problem of unemployment was prevailing everywhere and it is difficult to accept that for total eight posts, only 35 applications came to be submitted. It is also part of the record that the said advertisement was published in a daily newspaper having no wide circulation and even nobody noticed about existence of the said daily newspaper. The directions given by the Director of Municipal Administration have not been followed while issuing the advertisement and even while fixing the eligibility criteria. Most of the candidates are relatives of the employees working in Municipal Council, Bhokar. The scrutiny of applications was not done properly and prima facie, there is evidence to indicate that the applicants in anticipatory bail application no. 901 of 2018 have joined hands with the others in the so called process of selection of candidates by direct recruitment. While going through the investigation papers, surprisingly I find that almost all the candidates including the applicant in anticipatory bail application ::: Uploaded on - 06/10/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 07/10/2018 01:28:35 ::: 904-ABA-901-18+ -10- no.817 of 2018, who have filed applications for the post of Fireman, have submitted the certificate of Fireman's Training Course (Fire and Safety) issued by one All India Institute of Local Self-Government, Mumbai. It has also been noticed during the course of investigation that even though some of the applicants (those who are the selected candidates for the post of Fireman and have withdrawn their anticipatory bail applications) though they have produced the said certificate of training course issued by the said institute, found on duty for relevant period when they shown to have appeared for the said training course. Furthermore, on perusal of the scrutiny sheet in respect of the applicant in anticipatory bail application no. 817 of 2018, it is shown in column 6 that he has completed the Fireman training course at Nagpur, whereas, while applying for the post of Fireman, the applicant has annexed the certificate regarding Fireman training issued by the above said institute at Mumbai.
9. Though the applicants in anticipatory bail application no. 901 of 2018 are the Engineers, however, prima facie there is a strong case against them about preparation of scrutiny sheet keeping certain columns blank and also by mentioning/filling up false ::: Uploaded on - 06/10/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 07/10/2018 01:28:35 ::: 904-ABA-901-18+ -11- information. I do not find any substance in the submissions made on behalf of the said applicants that even though they have made endorsement about ineligibility of the candidates, the selection committee has accepted their forms and accordingly selected those candidates. Thus, considering the entire aspect of the case, I am not inclined to grant anticipatory bail. The applications are hereby rejected.
10. At this stage learned counsel for the applicants in anticipatory bail application No. 901 of 2018 submits that applicant nos. 1 and 2 are the serving as Electrical Engineer and Water supply Engineer with Degloor and Loha Municipal Council respectively. They are required to be protected for some period so as to enable them to approach the Supreme Court. Learned counsel for the applicants in anticipatory bail application no. 817 of 2018 also makes a similar request. Both the counsel prayed to continue the oral directions given to the concerned Investigating Officer, as not to effect arrest of the applicants, till 25.10.2018 so as to enable them to approach the Supreme Court.
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11. On 29.09.2018, this Court has orally directed the APP to inform the concerned Investigating Officer as not to effect arrest of the applicants pending consideration of the applications. Those directions were for a limited period, and accordingly, on 03.10.2018, this Court has expressed disinclination to grant anticipatory bail to any of the applicants. In view of the same, there is no question of extending the said order of oral directions for a further period till 25.10.2018. The request of both the counsel stands refused.
( V. K. JADHAV, J.) vre/ ::: Uploaded on - 06/10/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 07/10/2018 01:28:35 :::