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1. The prosecution alleges that the appellants are members of an organized crime syndicate which has engaged in a systematic course of activities for cheating members of the public by conducting the ‗Mumbai Matka‘. To explain ‗matkas‘ in simple terms, those who wish to gamble place bets on numbers / playing cards. At the end of the cycle, the results are to be declared based on a random draw of numbers / playing cards and those who correctly guess the winning digits / playing cards win while the others lose. Instead of declaring the winning digits on the basis of a random draw, the organizers of the Mumbai Matka are alleged to identify the number on which the least bets are placed and declare that to be the winning digit. This is allegedly done in order to ensure that the pay-out is minimal and the profit is as large as possible.

2. Salim Mulla is alleged to be a bookie who accepts bets for the Mumbai Matka. It is the prosecution‘s case that he would transfer the money he received through the Mumbai Matka to Rakesh Agarwal and Manish Agarwal if he anticipated that he would be unable to repay in the event that the number on which he accepted the highest number of bets was declared the winning number. Rakesh Agarwal and Manish Agarwal would allegedly accept the risk and discharge the obligation to pay the gamblers if that particular number was indeed declared the winning number. Further, they would in turn allegedly transfer the money they received from Salim Mulla to Samrat Korane, the appellant in SLP (Criminal) No. 3722 of 2020, and Zakir PART A Mirajkar, the appellant in SLP (Criminal) No. 3213 of 2020. The latter two, along with Sharad Korane, the appellant in SLP (Criminal) No. 3629 of 2020 would assume the risk and transfer the money once again to Viral Savla, the appellant in SLP (Criminal) No. 3915 of 2020 and Jayesh Savla, the appellant in SLP (Criminal) No. 4170 of 2020, amongst others. It is alleged that in this fashion, the petitioners and various others are members of an organized crime syndicate, of which the lynchpin is Salim Mulla. The main organizers of the Mumbai Matka are alleged to be Prakash Savla, the appellant in SLP (Criminal) No. 3943 of 2020, his son Viral Savla and his brother Jayesh Savla. Finally, Rajendra Dave, the appellant in SLP (Criminal) No. 6034 of 2022 is alleged to assist Salim Mulla and the Savla family by distributing protection money to various gangsters and purchasing property from the proceeds of the illegal gambling business. According to the prosecution, the proceeds from the matka business are used to finance criminal gangs and underworld dons.

3. On 8 April 2019, the Assistant SP, Kolhapur and a team of police personnel raided what is alleged to be a gambling den (colloquially known as a ‗matka‘ den) controlled by Salim Mulla. It is the prosecution‘s case that Salim Mulla‘s wife, Shama Mulla, along with some others, assaulted the police team when they were recording the panchnama at the gambling den. PART A

4. FIR 136 of 2019 for offences punishable under Sections 143, 147, 149, 395, 307, 353, 332, 155, 109, 324, 323 and 427 of the Indian Penal Code 1860,1 Sections 4 and 5 of the Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act 1887, 2 Section 65(e) of the Maharashtra Prohibition Act 1949 and Sections 37 and 135 of the Bombay Police Act 1951 was registered in PS Rajarampuri, Kolhapur on the basis of a complaint made by one of the members of the raiding party. The Investigating Officer was of the opinion that the accused were members of an organized crime syndicate led by Salim Mulla, as defined in Section 2(1)(f) Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act 1999.3 She consequently submitted a proposal seeking to invoke offences punishable under the MCOCA, to the competent authority under Section 23(1)(a). The competent authority approved the proposal on 10 April 2019 and Sections 3(1)(ii), 3(2), 3(4), and 3(5) MCOCA were added to the FIR. During the course of investigation, the Additional Superintendent of Police4 recorded the confessions made by many of the accused, including the appellants. Statements of various persons under Section 161 Code of Criminal Procedure 19735 were also recorded.

e. The validity of the approval granted under Section 23(1)(a) or of the sanction under Section 23(1)(b) cannot be tested at this stage. Their validity can only be determined at the stage of trial, when the prosecution has the opportunity to adduce evidence. f. Sub-sections 1, 2, 3 and 5 of Section 3 commence with the expression ―whoever‖. Unlike the above provisions, sub-section 4 of Section 3 does not contain the word ‗whoever‘ and hence any person who is a member of an organised crime syndicate is liable. The MCOCA was validly invoked as the petitioners have abetted organized crime by rendering financial assistance to the organized crime syndicate by taking on any potential losses from the matka. The material on record points towards a financial link between the petitioners and the organized crime syndicate.