Prashant Shankar Hiremath v. The State Of Maharashtra
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION BAIL APPLICATION NO. 616 OF 2024 Prashant Shankar Hiremath .Applicant
Versus
The State of Maharashtra .Respondent Mr. Om Latpate i/b. Mr. Kuldeep U. Nikam, Advocate, for the Applicant.
Ms. S. S. Kaushik, APP, for the Respondent - State. Mr. Vinod Pawar, P.S.I., Hadapsar Police Station, Pune, present. CORAM: MADHAV J. JAMDAR, J.
DATE: 16.02.2024 P. C.
1.
Heard Mr. Latpate, learned Counsel appearing for the Applicant and Ms. Kaushik, learned APP appearing for the Respondent-State.
2.
This regular Bail Application is preferred under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The relevant details are as follows:-
1. C. R. No.
2. Date of registration of F.I.R.
31.05.2022
3. Name of Police Station Hadapsar Police Station Pune district
4. Sections invoked 302 r/w 34 of the I.P.C., 1860;
4, & 12 of the Arms Act, 1959;
37(1) & 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act,
5. Date of incident 30.05.2022
6. Date of arrest 31.05.2022
7. Date of fling of Charge-sheet 25.08.2023 3.
As per prosecution case, Accused No.1 - Mr. Kiran Vitthal Dhotre - aged 19 years, Accused No.2 - Mr. Prashant Shankar Hiremath - aged 19 years (present Applicant) and Accused No.3 - Mr. Ajay Sachin Mane - aged 20 years had started a small paan shop near Bank of Maharashtra, Bhekrainagar, Phursungi, Pune in April, 2022. The deceased used to visit the said pan shop, and would threaten the Accused persons and he used to forcibly take Cigarettes etc. without making any payment. On two occasions, he had taken the entire cash from the cash box of the said paan shop by threatening the present Applicant and other 2 co-accused. On 30.05.2022, the deceased came at the said paan shop of the Accused persons and started abusing them. Therefore, there was an altercation between the deceased and the Accused and all the Accused assaulted the deceased with a sickle.
4.
Mr. Latpate, learned counsel appearing for the Applicant submitted that the incident in question has taken place in a spur of the moment. He submitted that in fact, the deceased used to
extort money from the Accused and as they objected to it, the incident in question has taken place. He submitted that the Applicant is very young man aged 19 years. He submitted that there are no antecedents. Therefore, the Applicant be released on bail.
5.
On the other hand, Ms. Kaushik, learned APP appearing for the Respondent - State submitted that all the Accused have assaulted the deceased and they used the weapon. Therefore, bail may not be granted to the Applicant.
6.
A perusal of the record shows that the incident in question has taken place on 30.05.2022. F.I.R. was lodged on 31.05.2022 and the Applicant was arrested on 31.05.2022. Charge-sheet has been fled on 25.08.2023. There is no further progress in the trial. Even the charge is also not framed yet. As per the Chargesheet, 34 witnesses are proposed to be examined by the prosecution. The trial is likely to take a considerably long time. 7.
The factual position on record shows that the deceased used to extort money from the Accused persons. As the Accused persons had objected and resisted the same, a quarrel took place between the Applicant and the deceased. Prima facie, the incident has taken place in a spur of the moment. The Applicant is aged 19 years.
8.
There are no antecedents against the Applicant. 9.
The Applicant does not appear to be at risk of fight. 10.
Accordingly, the Applicant can be enlarged on bail by imposing conditions.
11.
In view thereof, the following order:-
O R D E R
(a) The Applicant - Prashant Shankar Hiremath be released on bail in connection with C. R. No.621 of 2022 registered with the Hadapsar Police Station, District - Pune on his furnishing P. R. Bond of Rs.25,000/- with one or two solvent sureties in the like amount.
(b) On being released on bail, the Applicant shall furnish his cell phone number and residential address to the Investigating Offcer and shall keep the same updated, in case of any change thereto.
(c) The Applicant shall report to the Hadapsar Police Station, District - Pune on the frst Sunday of every month between 11.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. for a period of six months and thereafter, as and when called by the Investigating Offcer. (d) The Applicant shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case, so as to dissuade such a person from
disclosing the facts to the Court or to any Police personnel. (e) The Applicant shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence and shall not contact or infuence the Complainant or any witness in any manner.
(f) The Applicant shall attend the trial regularly. The Applicant shall co-operate with the Trial Court and shall not seek unnecessary adjournments thereat.
(g) The Applicant shall surrender his passport, if any, to the Investigating Offcer.
12.
The Bail Application is disposed of accordingly. 13.
It is clarifed that the observations made herein are prima facie and the Trial Court shall decide the case on its own merits uninfuenced by the observations made in this order. [MADHAV J. JAMDAR, J.]