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15. Meanwhile, on 21st December 2008, Appellant had filed Bail Application No.42 of 2008 in the Special Court on 3 rd December 2008. While deciding the said Bail Application, the Special Court, vide its order dated 31st July 2009, discharged the Appellant and all the co-accused from the offences under MCOC Act and directed to transfer the case to the regular court at Nashik, as per Section 11 of the MCOC Act. Being aggrieved by the said order, the State preferred Appeal bearing No.866 of 2009 before this Court under Section 12 of the MCOC Act. The said Appeal was allowed by the Division Bench of this Court by order dated 19th July 2010 and, 9 APEAL-664-16-Prasad Purohit.doc accordingly, the impugned order of the Special Court dated 31 st July 2009 was set aside and the case was restored to the file of the Special Court under MCOC Act for decision on merit. As a result, Bail Application No.42 of 2008 filed by the Appellant-Prasad Purohit was remanded for hearing to the Special Court. The said Bail Application was then heard and came to be dismissed by the Special Court and Criminal Appeal No.333 of 2011 preferred by the Appellant against the said order in this Court also came to be rejected on 9th November 2011.

Applicability of MCOCA Provisions

57. At this stage, it may also be necessary to consider the applicability of the provisions of the MCOC Act to the present case. According to learned counsel for the Intervenor, though NIA has dropped the charges under the provisions of MCOC Act, Accused in the case, including the Appellant, cannot be discharged from the said offences, as already this Court has taken cognizance of the case under the provisions of MCOC Act. According to learned counsel for the Intervenor, even in the judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court dated 15th April 2015 passed in Criminal Appeal No.1169-1970 of 2010, the Hon'ble Apex Court has, though raised doubt about the applicability of the provisions of the MCOC Act, to the present Appellant and other co-accused are concerned, except Accused No.7- Rakesh Dhawde, these accused are not discharged from the offences registered under MCOC Act. In such circumstances, according to him, no clean-chit can be given to the Appellant or other co-accused from the offences registered under the MCOC Act.

62. Once it is held that the provisions of the MCOC Act are not to be considered for deciding the Bail Application, then the next question arising for consideration is, 'whether the confessional statements of Accused Nos.7, 10 and 12 can be taken into consideration for deciding these Bail Applications'?

63. As stated above, according to learned counsel for the Intervenor, these confessional statements can be taken into consideration even if the provisions of MCOC Act are held to be not applicable, as that observation of the Hon'ble Apex Court pertains only in respect of applicability of Section 21(b) of MCOC Act, which pertains to stringent provisions of bail. According to learned counsel 39 APEAL-664-16-Prasad Purohit.doc for the Intervenor, the order of the Hon'ble Apex Court nowhere reflects that, while deciding the Bail Application of the Appellant, confessional statements of co-accused should be excluded from consideration. According to learned counsel for Intervenor, further observations made by Hon'ble Apex Court in paragraph No.96 make it clear that the Bail Applications of Appellant and other co-accused were to be decided not on the touch-stone of Section 21(b) of MCOC Act, but on its own merits, as the Hon'ble Apex Court has then referred to the parameters for granting bail, as laid down in the landmark decisions of State of U.P., through CBI, Vs. Amarmani Tripathi, 2005 (8) SCC 21, and Kalyan Chandra Sarkar Vs. Rajesh Ranjan @ Pappu Yadav & Anr., AIR 2005 SC 921.

113. At this stage, it may also be necessary to consider the applicability of the provisions of the MCOC Act to the present case. According to learned counsel for the Intervenor, though NIA has dropped the charges under the provisions of MCOC Act, accused in the case, including the Appellant, cannot be discharged from the 71 APEAL-664-16-Prasad Purohit.doc said offences, as already this Court has taken cognizance of the case under the provisions of MCOC Act. According to learned counsel for the Intervenor, even in the judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court dated 15th April 2015 passed in Criminal Appeal No.1169-1970 of 2010, the Hon'ble Apex Court has, though raised doubt about the applicability of the provisions of the MCOC Act, to the present Appellant and other co-accused are concerned, except Accused No.7- Rakesh Dhawde, these accused are not discharged from the offences registered under MCOC Act. In such circumstances, according to him, no clean-chit can be given to the Appellant or other co-accused from the offences registered under the MCOC Act.