Somnath Dattu Page v. The State Of Maharashtra And ANR.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL BAIL APPLICATION NO. 1307 OF 2026 VAISHALI ANIL Somnath Dattu Page ...Applicant
VERSUS
The State Of Maharashtra And Anr.
...Respondents
_________________________________________________________________ by VAISHALI ANIL TIKAM Date:
2026.04.07 14:46:21 +0530 Mr. Satyavrat Joshi a/w. Mr. Vipul Dada Patil a/w. Ishaan Paradkar a/w. Shubha Shirsat a/w. Samay Pawar, Advocate for Applicant. Mr. B.B. Kulkarni, APP for Respondent-State.
ACP Haridas Killedar, ACB Mumbai.
_________________________________________________________________
CORAM
: SHIVKUMAR DIGE, J.
DATE : 30th MARCH, 2026.
P.C. :
1.
Heard learned counsel for the Applicant and learned APP for the State.
2.
By this Application, the Applicant is seeking regular bail in Crime No.130 of 2026 registered with Indira Nagar Police Station, Nashik for the offences punishable under Sections 7, 7A and 12 of The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
3.
It is prosecution case's that on 04/03/2026,Applicant and coaccused demanded bribe of Rs.1 Crore from first informant and on 06/03/2026 while accepting the amount of Rs.20 lacs of the first installment of the said bribe amount, applicant and co-accused are
arrested.
4.
It is contention of learned counsel for the Applicant that Applicant is behind bars around 21 days. He is government servant. Investigation is almost completed and requested to allow the application. 5.
It is contention of learned APP that investigation is in progress, yet charge-sheet has not been filed. Applicant demanded the bribe of Rs.1 crore and co-accused is arrested while accepting Rs.20 lacs on behalf of the applicant, If Applicant is released on bail, he may abscond or may hamper the investigation and requested to reject the application. 6.
I have heard both learned counsel, perused charge-sheet and documents produced on record.
7.
The Applicant is government service. Applicant is behind bars around 21 days. The bribe amount is seized. Investigation is almost completed.
8.
Considering these fact, I pass following order:
ORDER
(i) The Applicant- Somnath Dattu Page be released on bail in Crime No.130 of 2026 registered with Indira Nagar Police Station, Nashik, on furnishing PR bond of Rs.25,000/- with one or two solvent sureties in the like amount.
(ii) The Applicant shall not tamper with the evidence and/or
influence the prosecution witnesses.
(iii) The Trial Court shall decide the case on its own merits and in accordance with law, uninfluenced by the observations made in this order. (iv) The Applicant shall attend the office of ACB, Mumbai on every Thursday between 11.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. once in a week till filing of the charge-sheet.
(v) Bail Application is allowed in the aforesaid terms. (SHIVKUMAR DIGE, J.)