Bombay High Court
Rajkishor Gunnidhi Dash @ Raju Pandit vs The State Of Maharashtra on 7 April, 2021
Author: Revati Mohite Dere
Bench: Revati Mohite Dere
35-BA-1564 @ 1574-2019.doc
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL BAIL APPLICATION NO. 1564 OF 2019
WITH
CRIMINAL INTERIM APPLICATION (STAMP) NO. 4405 OF 2020
WITH
CRIMINAL INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 1415 OF 2020
IN
CRIMINAL BAIL APPLICATION NO. 1564 OF 2019
Rajkishor Gunnidhi Das @ Raju Pandit ...Applicant
Versus
The State of Maharashtra ...Respondent
WITH
CRIMINAL BAIL APPLICATION NO. 1574 OF 2019
Richard Substatian Peter ...Applicant
Versus
The State of Maharashtra ...Respondent
Mr. Sudeep Pasbola a/w Mr. Karl Rustomkhan for the Applicant in
BA/1564/2019
Mr. Aniket Vagal for the Applicant in BA/1574/2019
Mr. Mahesh Mulye, Spl. P.P a/w Mr. S. V. Gavand, A.P.P for the
Respondent-State
CORAM : REVATI MOHITE DERE, J.
WEDNESDAY, 7th APRIL 2021
P.C. :
1 Heard learned counsel for the parties.
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2 By these applications, the applicants seek their enlargement on
bail in connection with C.R. No. 20 of 2018 registered with the Yellow
Gate Police Station, Mumbai, for the alleged offences punishable under
Sections 285, 387, 506, 120B r/w 34 of the Indian Penal Code (`IPC') and
Sections 3 and 7 (2) of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (`EC Act')
along with Clause 5 of the Motor Spirit and High Speed Diesel (Regulation
of Supply and Distribution and Prevention of Malpractice) Order, 2005.
Subsequently, the provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organized
Crime Act (`MCOC Act'), in particular, Sections 3(1)(ii), 3(2) and 3(4) of
the MCOC Act were invoked.
3 Mr. Pasbola, learned counsel for the applicant-Rajkishor
Gunnidhi Das @ Raju Pandit, in Bail Application No. 1564/2019 submits
that the invocation of the provisions of the MCOC Act were without any
basis. He submits that the facts will reveal that the complaint/FIR dated
20th September 2018 was lodged only as against accused No.1-Sonu @
Jamil Mohd. Hussain Qureshi and accused No.2-Mohd. Shish Ansari and
that subsequently only on the basis of the statement of one witness, whose
statement was recorded on 28th September 2018, the applicant was arrested.
He submits that essentially the allegation as against the applicant is that he
would purchase high speed diesel from ships and would sell the said diesel
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to fishermen i.e. the applicant was allegedly involved in the business of
smuggling of diesel. He submits that by no stretch of imagination, can it
be said that the applicant was the gang leader and was the head of the
organized crime syndicate. He submits that infact, each of the accused
were carrying-on their own business. He submits that after the first charge-
sheet was filed on 13th December 2018, most of the statements came to be
recorded, some time in March, May and November 2019. He submits that
even the telephone transcript relied upon by the prosecution does not throw
light or show that the applicant was a gang leader or head of the organized
crime syndicate. He submits that there are 3 cases registered as against the
applicant i.e. one with Vashi Police Station (C.R. No. 272/2012) under
Sections 285, 34 of the IPC and Sections 3, 7 of the EC Act and two cases
with the Yellow Gate Police Station, Mumbai (C.R. No. 16/2015) for the
alleged offences under Sections 379, 285, 34 of the IPC r/w Sections 3, 7 &
8 of the EC Act; and (C.R. No. 21/2017) for the alleged offences
punishable under Sections 353, 336, 427, 280, 201, 120B of the IPC. He
submits that out of the 11 accused, the applicant is charge-sheeted in 2
cases with 2 of the co-accused i.e. in C.R. No. 16/2015 with accused No. 5-
Noor Mohd. Bacchu Qureshi @ Chhota Noora and in C.R. No. 21/2017
with accused No. 6-Nitin Gajanan Koli. He submits that taking the
prosecution case as it is, the bar of Section 21(4) of the MCOC Act would
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not apply and as such there is no impediment in releasing the applicant on
bail. He submits that the applicant is ready to abide by any of the
conditions that may be imposed by this Court, if enlarged on bail.
4 Mr. Vagal, learned counsel for the applicant-Richard Substatian
Peter, in Bail Application No. 1574 of 2019 submits that the applicant was
not working with the co-accused-Raju Pandit as a member of his syndicate.
He submits that each of the accused were doing their own business i.e. sale
of diesel. He submits that a perusal of the confessional statement of the
applicant-Richard will reveal that the said applicant was conducting his
own business and that there was no syndicate, as alleged by the
prosecution.
5 Mr. Mule, learned Special Public Prosecutor vehemently
opposes the applications. He submits that the applicant-Raju Pandit is the
main gang leader and that there are statements of witnesses to that effect.
Learned Spl. PP relies on the statement of a witness, which is at page 115
of the application; the transcript of conversation between the applicant-
Raju Pandit and the said witness and another transcript between applicant
and accused No. 5-Chhota Noora (on the phone of accused No. 1's Uncle);
the statement of witness dated 6th October 2018, which is at page 96 to
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show that the witness was assaulted by a gang member i.e. by accused No.
10-Ghonya @ Roshan Shirodkar; the statement of witness dated 15th March
2019, which is at page No. 543 to show that the applicant is the head of the
syndicate; statement of witness dated 18th March 2019, which is at page
544 also to show that the applicant is the head of the syndicate; statement
of witness dated 17th May 2019, which is at page 551, with respect to
demand for vessels; the statement of witnesses dated 9 th and 14th November
2019, which are at pages 199 and 784; and several other statements, to
show that the applicant was the boss/head of the gang. Learned Spl. P.P
also relied on the confessional statement of Richard (original accused No.
4) recorded under Section 18 of the MCOC Act. Learned Spl. P.P submits
that the applicant Richard's confessional statement recorded under Section
18 of the MCOC Act clearly shows his complicity as well as the complicity
of the co-accused-Raju Pandit and other accused. He submits that the
applicant-Raju Pandit, as the gang leader of the organized crime syndicate,
would threaten people in the conduct of the business. He further submits
that the applicant-Rau Pandit has 4 antecedents and that out of the said 4
cases, he is acquitted in one of the said case.
6 Perused the papers with the assistance of learned counsel for
the parties. According to the complainant, Shri Borse, Police Sub-Inspector
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attached to the Yellow Gate Police Station, Mumbai, when he was on
patrolling duty on 18th September 2018 along with other police staff, they
spotted one fishing boat `Barkat' at Lakda Bandar at Sewree. On
approaching the said boat and conducting inspection of the said boat
`Barkat', they found that the said boat was unmanned at that particular time.
On further search, they found 2 cans of diesel, one containing 35 litres and
the other about 30-40 litres of diesel. The said Vessel was taken to Mogal
Jetty and was seized under a panchanama on the very same day. The
patrolling unit found that the said fishing boat was involved in the business
of illegal sale of diesel. Accordingly, the police searched for the owner of
the said Vessel. On 18th September 2018 at about 8:00 a.m, the owner of the
said Vessel-Mohd. S. Ansari (original accused No. 2) arrived at the Yellow
Gate Police Station, Mumbai, to inquire about the boat and informed PSI
Shri Borse that he was the owner of the said boat bearing No.IND-MH-7-
MM-386.
7 Upon further inquiry, the owner of the boat-Mohd. S. Ansari
(accused No.2) disclosed that the said fishing boat was hired and was in
possession of Sonu @ Jamil Mohd. Hussain Qureshi and his Uncle-Chhota
Noora and that the said two persons i.e. Sonu (accused No.1) and Chhota
Noora (accused No.5) had taken the said Vessel on monthly rent of
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Rs. 30,000/- and on payment of deposit of Rs. 1,50,000/- from him.
Mohd. S. Ansari (accused No. 2) is also alleged to have disclosed that his
boat was involved in the business of smuggling of diesel and that he would
receive Rs. 1/- per litre of diesel from Sonu @ Jamil and Chhota Noora i.e.
accused Nos. 1 and 5 from the sale. On the basis of the said information,
FIR was registered as against accused No.1-Sonu @ Jamil Qureshi and
accused No. 5-Chhota Noora, with the Yellow Gate Police Station for the
aforesaid offences
8 It is the prosecution case that during the course of
investigation, the name of applicant-Raju Pandit was revealed, as the gang
leader of the syndicate. It is the further case of the prosecution, that the
applicant-Raju Pandit, as a gang leader, was carrying out smuggling of
diesel along with Chhota Noora and other accused. According to the
prosecution, the applicant-Raju Pandit, as the head of the organized crime
syndicate, would threaten witnesses with dire consequences, if they did not
purchase smuggled diesel through him or if they failed to supply boats to
the applicant for ferrying smuggled diesel. It is also alleged that the
applicant-Raju Pandit extorted money from witnesses, if they refused to
obey his orders.
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9 During investigation, on the disclosure made by one of the
witnesses, it was revealed that the applicant-Raju Pandit along with other
co-accused had threatened this witness with fire arms and had demanded
Rs. 20 lacs as extortion money, failing which, his daughter would be
kidnapped. The statement of the said witness is at page 115 of the
application. The applicant-Raju Pandit was arrested in the said case on 24 th
September 2018 and applicant-Richard was arrested on 28th October 2018.
10 From a perusal of the statement, which is at page 115, it
appears that the said witness is also in the business of sale of high speed
diesel. Learned counsel for the applicant-Raju Pandit tendered a copy of
the remand application in connection with C.R. No. 12/2019 in which the
said witness whose statement is on page 115 is shown as a wanted accused.
The said C.R. i.e. C.R. No. 12/2019 registered with the Yellow Gate Police
Station, was registered for the alleged offences punishable under Section
285 of the IPC and Sections 3, 7(1)(a)(h) of the EC Act along with
provisions of the Motor Spirit and High Speed Diesel (Regulation of
Supply and Distribution and Prevention of Malpractice) Order, 2005.
11 It appears that during the course of the investigation i.e. after
the arrest of accused No. 1-Sonu @ Jamil Qureshi and accused No.5-Noor
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Mohd. Qureshi, the telephone transcript taken from the mobile of accused
No. 1-Sonu @ Jamil Qureshi revealed the conversation between accused
No. 3-Raju Pandit and accused No. 5-Chhota Noora (Uncle of accused
No.1). On 28th September 2018, the statement of witness, which is at page
115 came to be recorded. On the basis of the said statement, Sections 387
and 120B of the IPC were invoked, as against the accused. The
confessional statement of applicant-Richard was recorded under Section 18
of the MCOC Act, on 9 th November 2018. On 13th December 2018, the
first charge-sheet was filed as against the applicants and other co-accused.
After the filing of charge-sheet, the statements of some more witnesses
came to be recorded, some time, during the period March 2019 to
November 2019. According to the prosecution, the said statements, in
particular, statements recorded during March 2019 to November 2019,
show that the applicant-Raju Pandit was the gang leader of the said
organized crime syndicate.
12 The statement of witness at page 115, to a great extent, shows
that the same is partly, hearsay and that the said witness had no personal
knowledge of some of the information. He has stated that the applicant-
Raju Pandit alongwith other co-accused was dealing with high speed diesel
and had even demanded Rs. 20 lacs as extortion money and had threatened
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to kill him. He has stated that thereafter, disputes between them were
settled and that he would talk with the applicant-Raju Pandit on phone. He
has further stated that from the conversation, he realised that there was a
dispute with respect to accounts between him and his partners, resulting in
quarrels between them. The said witness has produced the transcript of
conversation between him and applicant-Raju Pandit, before the police.
The said transcript is at page 65 of the application. A perusal of the said
transcript prima facie shows that the conversation relates to business i.e.
buying and selling of diesel, and is a regular conversation. A perusal of the
conversation does not show that the said witness was threatened or there
was any demand or extortion of money.
13 Infact, most of the statements which are allegedly
incriminating, have been recorded belatedly, between March 2019 to
November 2019 i.e. after more than 6 months of lodging of FIR. A perusal
of the statements prima facie show that the accused were doing illegal
business in high speed diesel, independently and at times, with each other.
Most of the statements of witnesses with respect to the applicant-Raju
Pandit, being the boss of the syndicate were recorded during the period
from March 2019 to November 2019, belatedly. Needless to state that the
evidentiary value of these statements will be tested at the time of the trial.
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14 As far as the statement of applicant-Richard recorded under
Section 18 of the MCOC Act, the same shows that the applicant-Raju
Pandit was involved in the smuggling of high speed diesel and that if
anyone smuggled diesel without his permission, he would report the same
to the police, get the diesel confiscated and the people involved, arrested.
The applicant-Richard, in his confessional statement has stated that hence,
they would keep cordial relations with the applicant-Raju Pandit. He has
further stated that in 2018, he purchased a boat worth Rs. 2,60,000/- for the
purpose of fishing but his business never took off and therefore, he tried his
hand at smuggling of diesel. He has stated that he knew that Chhota Noora
(accused No. 5) used to hire boats and would sell oil stolen from barges.
He has further stated that as he was in need of money and he knew Chhota
Noora, he rented his boat at Rs. 30,000/- per month to Chhota Noora and
also took a deposit of Rs. 2 lacs from him. He has further stated that in
2017, he handed over the boat to Chhota Noora for the purpose of
smuggling diesel; that initially Chhota Noora paid him Rs. 50,000/-,
however, later, he started avoiding making payments, as a result of which,
he took the boat back from Chhota Noora in November 2017. He has
further stated that in the meantime, he started selling diesel from the barge
on a small-scale and started providing the same to the local fishermen. He
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has further stated that Chhota Noora and the applicant-Raju Pandit assured
to help him smuggle diesel with the help of Government Officers and in
return, asked for Rs. 2,50,000/-. He has stated that he gave Rs. 1,00,000/-
but was unable to give the balance amount to the applicant-Raju Pandit and
hence, applicant-Raju Pandit was after him. He has further stated that as
Chhota Noora and applicant-Raju Pandit were suffering losses, they
informed the Colaba Police Station of the illegal smuggling business
carried out by him (Richard), pursuant to which, he was arrested in
December 2017 and his boat was confiscated. Applicant-Richard has stated
that subsequently, he settled the dispute amicably with the applicant-Raju
Pandit. According to the applicant-Richard, Chhota Noora and Raju Pandit
cheated him and hence, he decided to provide information against them, to
the Yellow Gate Police Station. He has further stated that in 2018, Raju
Pandit came to his house and informed him that due to the information
provided by him (Richard), action was taken against him. He has stated
that Raju Pandit offered him to be a part of his business, pursuant to which,
they mutually agreed to work together. He has further stated that Raju
Pandit had a strong hold over the business. The confessional statement of
applicant-Richard shows that he was also in the business of illegal
smuggling of diesel and so was the applicant-Raju Pandit; that although
initially applicant-Richard had started his own business and that later, at the
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behest of Raju Pandit, the police arrested him for illegal sale of diesel, after
which, they started working together.
15 Prima facie, it appears that the applicants were individually as
well as together, were doing the business of illegal sale of high speed diesel
and that they would smuggle high speed diesel from Vessels and sell it to
fishermen. Neither of the applicants, is the owner of the boat `Barkat',
which was intercepted by the police nor has the prosecution been able to
show that the applicants were involved with the high speed diesel found in
the said vessel. As noted earlier, the statements of some of the witnesses,
who have alleged that the applicant-Raju Pandit was the gang leader of the
syndicate were recorded belatedly. The evidentiary value of the said
statements will be considered by the trial Court, during trial. However,
prima facie, having regard to the illegal activities of the applicants in
selling diesel, and their antecedents, it would be appropriate to impose
stringent conditions on the applicants, whilst enlarging them on bail.
16 Considering the material on record, the bar of Section 21(4) of
the MCOC Act would not apply. Accordingly, the applications are allowed
on the following terms and conditions :
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ORDER
(i) The applicant- Rajkishor Gunnidhi Das @ Raju Pandit be enlarged on bail, on executing PR Bond in the sum of Rs. 1,00,000/- with two local solvent sureties in the like amount;
(ii) The applicant-Richard Substatian Peter be enlarged on bail, on executing PR Bond in the sum of Rs. 50,000/- with one or more sureties;
(iii) Both the applicants shall attend the Yellow Gate Police Station every fortnight, on a Monday between 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m, till the conclusion of the trial;
(iv) The applicant-Rajkishor Gunnidhi Das @ Raju Pandit shall not enter the jurisdiction of the Yellow Gate Police Station (except for the purpose of attending the Yellow Gate Police Station), Uran Police Station, Mandwa Police Station and Mora Police Station, till the conclusion of the trial;
(v) The applicants shall not tamper with the evidence or attempt to influence, intimidate, threaten or contact the complainant, witnesses or any person concerned with the case; SQ Pathan 14/16 ::: Uploaded on - 23/04/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 05/09/2021 17:05:34 :::
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(vi) The applicants shall not indulge in any illegal activities;
(vii) The applicants shall inform their latest places of residence and mobile contact numbers immediately after being released and/or change of residence or mobile details, if any, from time to time to the Court seized of the matter and to the Investigating Officer of the concerned Police Station;
(viii) The applicants to cooperate with the conduct of the trial and attend the trial Court on all dates, unless exempted;
(ix) The applicants shall file undertaking with regard to clauses (iii) to (viii) in the trial Court, within three weeks of their release;
(x) If there is breach of any of the aforesaid conditions, the prosecution shall be at liberty to seek cancellation of the applicants' bail.
17 The Bail Application Nos. 1564/2019 and 1574/2019 are accordingly disposed of.
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35-BA-1564 @ 1574-2019.doc 18 In view of the disposal of the Bail Application No. 1564/2019, nothing survives for consideration in Interim Application (Stamp) No. 4405/2020 and Interim Application No. 1415/2020. The same are disposed of accordingly.
19 It is made clear that the observations made herein are prima facie, and the trial Court shall decide the case on its own merits, in accordance with law, uninfluenced by the observations made in this order. 20 All concerned to act on the authenticated copy of this order.
REVATI MOHITE DERE, J.
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