Prashant Ravindra Shetty v. The State Of Maharashtra

Rane * 1/2 * ABA-1932-2016 Wednesday, 16.11.2016 sr.no.19

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION NO. 1932 OF 2016 Prashant Ravindra Shetty .....Applicant V/s.

The State of Maharashtra .....Respondent * * * * * * Mr. V.K. Rai, Advocate for the applicant.

Ms. R.M. Godhvi, APP for the respondent, State. PSI, Dhananjay Patil, Dharavi Police Station present. CORAM :- N.W. SAMBRE, J.

DATED :- 16th NOVEMBER, 2016.

P.C. :- 1).

The applicant is seeking pre-arrest bail in Crime No. 491 of 2016 punishable under Sections 420, 464, 465, 468, 471, 473, 120(B) read with Section 34 Indian Penal Code on the ground that, he being an UTI Agent was required to have documents of various persons in his custody for processing their request with Unit Trust of India in the matter of their investments. According to him, the documents recovered from his vehicle are taken to be the basis for impleading as a party accused in the crime in question. The learned Counsel for the applicant submits that, custodial

Rane * 2/2 * ABA-1932-2016 Wednesday, 16.11.2016 sr.no.19 interrogation is not required in the aforesaid background and prays for release.

2).

The APP opposes the application on the ground that, there is prima-facie material to infer that the applicant is involved in the crime in question.

3).

Having bestowed my thoughts to the submissions made and on the basis of the material available on record, it is required to be noted that from the vehicle which is owned and used by the applicant, documents and other material used in the commission of crime are recovered. The said recovery is supported by substantial material on record depicting his, prima-facie involvement in the crime in question particularly in preparation of bogus Identity Cards such as Aadhar Card, Ration Cards, Election Cards etc. 4).

During investigation, one of the co-accused has already given a statement that the applicant is one of the master mind. Though, the statement of co-accused is not required to be taken into account against the applicant for deciding the bail, however, same can be used to ascertain that the investigation is going on into the right direction.

5).

Apart from the above, there is sufficient material on record to infer, prima-facie, involvement in the serious crime which has far reaching effect on the Society. As such no case is made out, the application is rejected.

(N.W. SAMBRE, J)