Meena Dnyaneshwar Bankar v. The State Of Maharashtra

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION NO.2184 OF 2019 Meena Dnyaneshwar Bankar .... Applicant versus The State of Maharashtra .... Respondent .......

• Mr.Satyavrat Joshi i/b. Nitesh J. Mohite, Advocate for Applicant.

• Ms.S.S. Kaushik, APP for the State/Respondent. CORAM : SARANG V. KOTWAL, J.

DATE : 07th OCTOBER, 2019 P.C. :

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The Applicant is seeking anticipatory bail in connection with C.R.No.878/19 registered with Foujdar Chawadi Police Station, Solapur, under sections 417, 420, 421 r/w 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

2.

The FIR is lodged by Ulpabai Abhimanyu Surwase on 08/08/2019. She has stated that she was a devotee and follower of a Spiritual Guru Amma Bhagwan. Her entire family is devotee of that Guru. She was knowing many such devotees. It is Nesarikar

2 / 4 mentioned in the FIR that during various programmes she got acquainted with many other devotees i.e. Vitthal Sonawane, Milind Dangre, Jayashree Bhosale, Mukund Wamane etc. along with the Applicant. That is the only reference to the Applicant's name in the FIR. She further stated that in November 2018, the accused Vitthal Sonawane, Mukund Wamane, Jayashree Bhosale, Milind Dangre had come to Solapur to her house. Milind Dangre represented that the Guru was to come to Phaltan on 09/12/2018. He asked the informant to keep this information a secret. He demanded Rs.2 lakhs for building a temple and for bringing the Guru to Phaltan. The informant and her friends collected Rs.2 lakhs and gave them to Milind Dangre. On 09/12/2018 the informant went to Phaltan. There was crowd and it was controlled by the different guards. At around 07.15 a.

m. on 09/12/2018 some person posing as that spiritual Guru came there. The informant immediately realized that it was an impostor and therefore she felt cheated. She asked the money back from Milind Dangre and others. But she was not returned her money and thereafter this FIR was lodged.

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Heard learned Counsel Mr.Satyavrat Joshi for the Applicant and learned APP Ms.S.S. Kaushik for the State. 4.

Mr.Satyavrat Joshi submitted that in the FIR there are no allegations against the Applicant. Learned APP submitted that the Applicant is also known as one of the devotees. 5.

I have considered these submissions. In the FIR except stating that the informant came to know that the Applicant was one of the devotees in one of the programmes in Pune, there is absolutely no reference to her name in the FIR. Even after that narration in the FIR as well as in the concluding paragraphs, there are no allegations against her. However in the concluding paragraph her name is mentioned in the same context as other accused that she had cheated the informant. When the incident is narrated in the FIR in respect of cheating the informant for Rs.2 lakhs, there are no allegations against the Applicant. In this view of the matter, custodial interrogation of the Applicant is not

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ORDER

(i) In the event of her arrest in connection with C.R.No.878/19 registered with Foujdar Chawadi Police Station, Solapur, the Applicant is directed to be released on bail on her furnishing PR bond in the sum of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand Only) with one or two sureties in the like amount.

(ii) The Applicant shall attend the concerned Police Station as and when called and co-operate the investigation (iii) Application stands disposed of accordingly.

(SARANG V. KOTWAL, J.)