SHEKHAR NARAYAN SHETTY Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY this application, the applicant seeks pre-arrest bail in connection with C.R. No. 111/2009 registered at Malabar Hill Police Station, Mumbai.

(2.) BRIEF facts of the alleged offence are that the complainant is the owner/landlord and the present applicant is his tenant running a hotel business. There are disputes between the complainant and the applicant and eviction proceedings are pending before the Appellate Bench of the Small Causes Court. A false obituary was published in two newspapers about the death of the complainant though in fact he is alive. Upon investigation, the police arrested the person who had given the news about the obituary along with a xerox copy of a forged death certificate of the complainant. This person, who is an employee of the applicant, is alleged to have stated before the police that the applicant was the brain behind. The police therefore seek custody of the applicant on the ground that custodial investigation is necessary to ascertain how the forgery of the death certificate was made and where are the original seals used for the purpose of preparation of the forged death certificate.

(3.) THE obituary was published on 17th September 2009. The F.I.R. was registered on 28th November 2009. The delay in lodging of the F.I.R. is not satisfactorily explained. Besides, if at all the applicant wanted to destroy the evidence of the seals used for the purpose of preparation of a forged death certificate, he had ample time it and therefore custodial investigation at such a late stage would not serve any further purpose.