Surekha Chandrakant Pujari And ANR v. State Of Maharashtra And ANR
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION NO.2443 OF 2025 Surekha Chandrakant Pujari & Anr.
...Applicants
Versus
The State of Maharashtra & Anr.
...Respondents
Mr. Abhishek R. Avachat (through Video Conferencing) a/w. Mr. Siddhant H. Deshpande, for the Applicants.
Ms. S. M. Yadav, APP, for the Respondent No.1-State. Mr. Narayan G. Rokade, for the Respondent No.2. Mr. M. B. Kawale, PSI, attached to Hadapsar Police Station, Pune City, present.
CORAM:
MADHAV J. JAMDAR, J.
DATED :
9th SEPTEMBER 2025 PC:- 1.
Heard Mr. Avachat, learned Counsel appearing for the Applicants, Ms. Yadav, learned APP appearing for the Respondent No.1-State and Mr. Rokade, learned Counsel appearing for the Respondent No.2.
2.
The Applicants are seeking pre-arrest bail. The relevant details are as under:
Sr.
No.
Descriptions Details
1. Name and Age of the Applicants Surekha Chandrakant Pujari and Chandrakant Dharmappa Pujari Age-54 years and 66 years
2. C.R. No.
480/2025
3. Name of Police Station Hadapsar Police Station, Pune
4. Date of Incident 19/05/2025
5. Date of registration of F.I.R.
20/05/2025
6. Sections applied in F.I.R.
108, 85, 80, 115(2), 352 and 3(5) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
7. Date of arrest of the Applicant Not Arrested
8. Date of filing chargesheet August 2025
9. Sections applied in chargesheet 108, 85, 80, 115(2), 352 and 3(5) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
3.
As per the prosecution case, the accused No.1 is husband, accused No.2 is brother-in-law, accused No.3 is mother-in-law and accused No.4 is father-in-law of the deceased. They have demanded dowry after marriage and subjected the deceased to cruelty due to which the deceased hanged herself. The marriage between the deceased and the accused No.1 was solemnized on 18th April 2025 and the incident in question took place on 19th May 2025. The material on record clearly shows that the Applicants i.e. accused No.3-mother-in-law and accused No.4-father-in-law have
made demand of dowry and subjected the deceased to cruelty. As per Sections 117 and 118 of the Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, there is presumption that the accused is involved in a crime, if incident took place within 7 years of marriage. Thus, there is material on record to show that the Applicants are involved in the crime.
4.
The accused No.1-husband and accused No.2-brother-in-law have already been arrested and they are behind bars. The material on record further shows that the chargesheet has been filed in August 2025. Thus, the custodial interrogation of the Applicants who are in-laws of the deceased is not necessary. 5.
Mr. Rokade, learned Counsel appearing for the Respondent No.2 submits that the offence is very serious and the Applicants are involved in the crime. He also relied on the decision of the Supreme Court in Shabeen Ahmad vs. State of Uttar Pradesh1 wherein the Supreme Court has cancelled the regular bail granted to the accused i.e. in-laws of the deceased. However, it is required to be noted that in the said case, although it was the contention of (2025) 4 SCC 172
the in-laws that the deceased died by suicide however, PostMortem Report documented multiple ante-mortem injuries, suggesting forced strangulation and ruling out suicide. Thus, in the facts of that case, the Supreme Court cancelled the bail granted to the in-laws. In the present case, admittedly the deceased died by suicide. Therefore, the said decision of the Supreme Court has no application to the present case.
6.
Accordingly, the case is made out for grant of Anticipatory Bail. In view thereof, the following order is passed:
O R D E R
(a) In the event of arrest of the Applicant No.1-Surekha Chandrakant Pujari and the Applicant No.2Chandrakant Dharmappa Pujari in connection with C.R. No.480 of 2025 registered with the Hadapsar Police Station, Pune, the Applicants are directed to be released on bail on their furnishing P.R. Bond in the sum of Rs.50,000/- each with one or two solvent sureties each in the like amount.
(b) The Applicants shall furnish their cell phone number
and residential address to the Investigating Officer and shall keep the same updated, in case of any change thereto.
(c) The Applicants 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.
(d) The Applicants shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence and shall not contact or influence the Complainant, or any witness, in any manner.
(e) The Applicants shall not leave India without prior permission of the Court.
7.
The Anticipatory Bail Application is allowed and disposed of accordingly.
[MADHAV J. JAMDAR, J.] Digitally signed by SONALI MILIND PATIL Date:
2025.09.09 18:37:52 +0530 SONALI MILIND PATIL